In the Shadows of the Black Forest
by ratsister
Summary: A series of Ger/Ita fairytales. Each chapter another tale, adapted from the original German tales for Ludwig and his Feliciano. Magic, Tragedy, Danger, Elves, Dwarves, Witches and True Love. Human names. Clearly AU. Ger/Ita.
1. What is Lost and Found

_This is the first in a series of my adaptations of German fairytales for a Ger/Ita loving audience! :) I'm on the look out for a good book of Italian fairytales and if I find one, I'll be adding those here as well. This is from my fantabulous, most beloved 'Complete Fairytales of the Brothers Grimm." It really is complete, with well over 300 tales included. This one is just so...oh, just. sigh. So It had to be the first. Some will be darker (you know these old fairytales!), some will be lighter, and many as I can find will be as..romantic as this, because, well, it makes my heart happy! _

_This series will be on going until I run out of fairytales...which may well be never. As I continue to work on my beloved first fic, Its just business, this will be my place to update shorter tales in between IJB chapters. I'm also just finishing up a Rus/Ame fairytale as well and will be creating a home for Russian fairytales as well. Ah, my two fave pairings and my first true love, the fairytale! _

_I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. I will update as I find perfect stories...and in between Its just business chapters. (I already have a nice little list of good ones!) _

_But I don't want to go on and on - This is adapted from the tale: The Nixie in the Pond. _

_Nixie: a greedy sometimes cannibalistic water demon similar to the Kelpie of Scottish folklore, able to appear as beautiful women, men, or horses. They are your basic wicked drowning fairy. The kind of thing your mom might warn you of to keep you form the dangerous pond, river, or loch nearby._

_Schwarzwald: the Black Forest._

...

Once upon a time, long long ago there lived a young, impulsive knight. One day he was walking along the edge of a pond lamenting his ill fortune. He had once been powerful and wealthy, but had come on hard times and lost much of his former glory.

As he lamented and cursed his luck, the knight kicked a stone which fell into the pond with a sinking splash. From the ripples a beautiful maiden rose from the waters.

"White knight, why do you carry on so?" She asked him, her feet drifting in the waters as she floated on the air.

His red eyes wide, the knight was enraptured by her beauty and he told her of all his troubles, how he had lost much that he once had held, his fortunes dwindled and his enemies rejoiced.

When he had finished his tale, the maiden floated near and consoled him. "Worry not brave knight, you can have all that you wish restored to you and see your enemies wailing in grief at your gains." She continued, her breath so close to his ear that it ruffled the pale man's white hair. "All you must do is give me what is sleeping in your house at this moment."

The knight thought hard, but he couldn't imagine what could be sleeping in his home...the only family he had was out, and no friends lived nearby. Thinking the only thing sleeping in his house must surely be no more than a mouse or a cricket, the knight readily agreed.

The maiden sunk beneath the water once more, and the knight happily strode home, thinking of the riches and power he soon would regain.

Imagine his distress upon reaching home to see his door open wide. Cautiously the knight stepped inside and looked around. He heard the soft breaths of someone sleeping and beginning to panic, he moved through the house until, his heart pounding in his chest, the knight opened the last door.

His young brother had been out to get firewood and the knight had expected the task would take the younger boy much longer to complete!

The pale man's complexion faded even more as he dropped to his knees beside his little brother's bed and cursed the maiden in the pond who he now knew to be a dreadful nixie.

The boy woke and seeing his brother crying, he sat up and rubbing sleep from his sky blue eyes he asked, "Bruder, vhat happened , vhy are you crying?"

The knight stood and held his only brother close, and with tears falling into the young boy's blonde hair, he told him what he had promised the water nixie.

The boy was understandably upset as well, he didn't want to be dragged down below the waters to be kept by a terrible nixie, never to grow up and become a man. After much thought the two brothers came to a decision, the younger must never go near the pond. The nixie couldn't leave her waters and so as long as the boy did not go near enough for her to grab him, he would be safe.

This plan worked for many years, and indeed neither brother ventured near the pond's edge at all. The boy grew into a fine, strong man and went out to make his way in the world. This caused his older brother much happiness as he would now be far from the pond and the nixie who waited for him.

One day the young man came upon a master huntsman in a village in a kingdom to the south.

"Huntsman, let me be your apprentice and learn from you." He asked the man.

The hunter looked him over and decided the young man would make a good apprentice. "Before I take you as my apprentice, tell me, where have you come from, what is your name, and what is it you want from life?"

"My name is Ludwig; I come from a kingdom to the north vhere I lived vith my bruder beside the Schwarzwald." He thought for a time before answering the next question. "As for vhat I vant from life, I vant only the same as everyone else; to live a good life, be useful, and find love."

His answer pleased the master huntsman who took him under his tutelage. For a year and a day the young man learned from the hunter until he could learn no more and indeed had even surpassed his master in skill.

After leaving as a skillful hunter in his own right, Ludwig traveled on to seek employment at a nearby lord's castle. He easily proved his skill and became the lord's chief huntsman.

Now it came to pass that the lord had a grandson, Feliciano, who was well known across the land for his beauty and kindness. At only a few years younger than Ludwig, the two became fast friends, and after a time, fell in love.

As Feliciano was the younger brother and would not inherit his grandfather's title, the lord gave his permission for the two to marry. Ludwig took his love back to his home, happy to show his brother that he had grown, found a vocation to make his living, and found love as well.

The knight was happy to meet his new brother in law, but worried about Ludwig's return, as he had hoped his younger brother would stay far away from the dangerous pond. The younger brother held his new love close and told his older brother that he wouldn't live in fear and had wanted to move back to show Feliciano his homeland.

The older nodded in understanding and helped his brother decide on a place to build his new home. A place was chosen far from the dreaded pond.

As time passed Feliciano and Ludwig only grew closer and more in love, both spent much of their time together in the home Ludwig had built, but also with his older brother Gilbert as he and Feliciano got along well.

One day as Ludwig was out hunting, he came upon a large buck, the biggest he had ever seen. If he caught this animal, he and Felicano would have plenty to eat for a long time indeed! He ran after the beast, and chased it deep into the Schwarzwald. Night fell and he was still pursuing it. Finally, he had gone in circles and was leaving the edge of the forest when he at last caught up to it.

Though the night was late and he had run a distance from home, Ludwig skinned and cleaned the animal there beside the forest's edge. He was tired as the light of dawn began to peak over the horizon and had forgotten his bearings in the chase. Not wanting to return home bloodied and dirty from the hunt, he strode toward the sparkling waters of a nearby pond.

No sooner had he sunk his hands below the water to wash, than they were seized by the pale fingers of the nixie. Before he could utter a single cry, she had pulled him below.

When Feliciano woke to realize his husband had never come home from the hunt, he began to worry. After the sun rose and moved across the sky and still he did not return, Feliciano's eyes filled with tears and he ran to his brother in law's house.

The knight instantly suspected the nixie and he and Feliciano made haste to the pond's edge where they found the deer meat cleaned and ready looking as though it had been out all night, and there was Ludwig's knife and bow beside the water's edge.

Instantly Feliciano dropped to his knees in despair. He was inconsolable, nothing Gilbert said or did could stem the tide of his tears. The knight himself was heavily saddened, his heart aching for the loss of his brother.

Though Gilbert mourned for the brother he had so loved, he none the less went on with his life after a time. Feliciano however, did not. Each day he would cry at the pond, cursing it and the hated nixie. Often he cried himself to sleep on the water's edge.

One such day as he slept from the exhaustion of crying beside the pond, a dream came to him and its vision was so clear it felt as though it were real. In the dream he traveled up a steep mountain through driving rain. When he reached the top he saw a small hut, the skies cleared and the air became warm. When he went inside the hut, he met a dark haired man, short of stature like himself, but wise beyond his apparent years. The dark haired man introduced himself politely as Kiku. His name was foreign and strange to Feliciano's ears and he knew he must have traveled far. Kiku gave to him a golden comb and told him to comb his hair beside the pond on the next full moon and to wait. He would see his love again.

Upon waking, Feliciano was shocked to see that he had the golden comb in his pocket. Alas! The full moon was still days away. He waited, barely returning home as the place felt so empty with only himself inside.

Finally the date of the full moon arrived and Feliciano was ready beside the pond. He brushed his mahogany hair with the golden comb and sat it beside the water's edge when he had finished. The young heartbroken man waited hopefully.

The water surged forward and took the golden comb to the depths of the pond.

No sooner had the waters calmed again than Feliciano saw his husband's head break the water's surface. Upon seeing him, Ludwig's blue eyes widened as he looked upon his love at the pond's edge tragically, knowing he was unable to reach toward him. As soon as the blonde opened his mouth to speak, the waters swallowed him up again.

Feliciano lay down on the ground at the pond and cried even harder at seeing his love again only to lose him once more. Again, he cried until he had no more tears and his throat was sore. Exhausted, he fell asleep at the water's edge.

Again, he dreamed of traveling up the mountain. Again, he met with the dark haired man. He cried and lamented to Kiku that the comb had not worked at all, his beloved was still trapped beneath the water!

The wise man only smiled and consoled the heartbroken Feliciano. "It has worked. Did I not tell you you would see him again?"

Feliciano nodded as Kiku continued, "And have you seen him?"

"Si." The tears threatened to fall from his caramel eyes again as Feliciano looked back up at the dark haired man. "Veh~ will he never be free from the pond? Are we to be apart forever?"

Again, the man wise beyond his youthful appearance, gave to Feliciano a golden flute. "Play this flute as though it were your heart. Play it by the water by the light of the full moon. This time you will be able to both see and hear your love again." The dark haired man smiled at him. "Do not be so forlorn, your heart is true."

With those words, Feliciano woke beside the pond. Night had changed to midday as he slept. Hopefully, he reached into his pocket and as sure as the comb had been, there the flute was. He longed to play it right away, but when he put it to his lips no sound came out. Feliciano sighed and knew he would have to wait a month for the moon to become full once more.

The month passed much too slowly for the heartbroken Feliciano. At last when it did arrive, he was ready once more beside the pond. Grateful that his grandfather had provided a childhood rich in artistic tradition, he was able to play the flute as if it were his heart.

A sorrowful and lingering tune flowed from the instrument as Feliciano played. When he felt he could play no more and the song had come to a natural end, he lay the flute down at the pond's edge.

Once more, the water bubbled and surged forth to claim the flute and carry it to the depths.

Just as with the comb before it, as soon as the surface had calmed once more, Ludwig's head appeared above the water, this time followed by his torso. It was as if he were simply wading in the pond, and as Feliciano stood, his heart leaping in his chest, Ludwig made to move forward.

Alas, the power of the nixie was still too powerful, and he could not move his legs beneath the water. The strong man was rendered immobile from the waist down and as he called out his beloved's name and reached toward Feliciano at the edge, once again, the waters surged and the nixie pulled him below.

Feliciano ran crying around the edge of the pond, hot tears falling down his face as he cursed the nixie with all his heart. He screamed to her beneath the water's glassy surface until his lungs and throat were exhausted. Once more he could not bring himself to make the walk home and collapsed beside the pond, sobbing quietly until he fell asleep.

A third time the dream came to him, and he raced up the mountainside to run through the doors to face the dark haired man. "Veh~ What cruelty is this?" Feliciano lamented, "He was nearly able to move out of the water, but the nixie pulled him under again! I can take this no more; can nothing free him from her hold?" His caramel eyes downcast, Feliciano hung his head in defeat, his heart heavy and body tired from crying.

The wise man spoke up, "Do not cry, for you have nearly freed your love. All magical things must come and be done thricefold." Kiku walked to a door and pulled from the room, a large golden spinning wheel.

Feliciano began to despair as the dark haired man told him what to do.

"You must spin this golden wool on the spinning wheel until it is all spun as fine as can be, then as before, leave the wheel and the spun wool beside the water as the full moon is still overhead." Kiku went on, not noticing the look on Feliciano's face. "Only once you have completed this task will your husband be freed from the nixie."

His heart fell but he thanked the wise man. Feliciano touched the golden spinning wheel; it was the first time he had ever touched one, never having needed to spin before. As soon as he touched one finger to the wheel he awoke where he lay beside the pond, the remnants of his tear tracks still wet on his cheeks. Sitting up, he noticed the spinning wheel gleaming in the light of the sun. He had slept to midday again.

Sighing miserably, Feliciano dragged the heavy gold spinning wheel into a nearby cavern. He could never have pulled it all the way home, and, if he had he would have been sure to attract unwanted attention with a solid gold spinning wheel.

Breathlessly, he stood beside the contraption. "Veh~" he sighed, "What will I do? I have never used a spinning wheel before!" The young man felt so alone in the cavern, whose walls echoed his words back to him, but he stayed and looked over the spinning wheel.

As the month progressed, Feliciano spent more time in the cavern than at home. A few times he visited his brother in law but did not tell him of the dreams, or the spinning wheel for fear that he would give Gilbert false hope, and that he would fail at this last task only to lose his love forever.

When at last the night of the full moon came, he pulled the spinning wheel from the cavern with all his strength and sat it beside the water. With trepidation, he sat at the wheel and began slowly to spin.

Feliciano's fingers fumbled with the wool. It seemed he would never get it on the spindle correctly. When at last he had accomplished this step, he began the work at spinning it into a fine strand of gold. However, no matter how hard he tried, he was simply unused to the job. His strands would be lumpy or fall apart as soon as he thought he had done it.

"Veh!" He sighed, feeling at a loss, "This is so much harder than making pasta!" He could roll the thinnest strands of angel hair, but this golden wool continued to thwart his every attempt.

Each time he nearly gave up, giving in to his frustrated tears, his eyes would rest on the calm surface of the pond and his heart clenched in sorrowful pain while his blood heated in anger.

Fueled on to continue to try, Feliciano picked up the wasted wool to spin again. He spun, he spun, he spun again and again. He spun the gleaming wool until he felt his fingers stiffen and though he wanted to cry and give up at the pain, he looked to the pond and thinking of his love trapped beneath the waters, he found the strength to continue.

Feliciano knew if it had been he trapped and held beneath the waves, there was nothing his Ludwig wouldn't do to save him. A small smile played about his lips as Feliciano thought. If it had been he held by the nixie, Ludwig would surely have dived beneath the water to rescue him by force.

While Feliciano's mind drifted in the daydream where the two had been parted for no more than a day, he had spun the golden wool till his fingers began to bleed. He had spun the golden wool until it was fine, fine as a spider's web.

Amazed that he had done it, Feliciano paid no heed to his sore and wounded finger tips, but wrapped the shimmering filaments carefully. Sparing a glance upward to the full moon, he gasped. The night was nearly past!

Hastily, Feliciano laid the spun golden wool beside the wheel and stepped back as the waters bubbled and surged forward. As with the flute and the comb before it, the waters surged up around the spinning wheel and carried it down to the bottom of the pond.

As before, once the waters calmed Feliciano saw his love rise up from the water. First, his head, then chest, and finally, Ludwig was running through the water toward his love.

"Feliciano! Mein Liebe!" Now standing on dry land, the tall blonde lifted his love in a tight embrace and kissed him deeply. "I vatched you each night from below, but vas unable to break through the surface."

All was right with the world again, the two lovers reunited, their hearts light as Ludwig held Feliciano close.

The nixie however, had not intended a trade and angered at the trick, as Feliciano's golden trinkets had distracted her from her captive, she rose from the water, not as the beautiful maiden who had appeared to Ludwig's brother so many years ago, but as a terrible spectre; her beauty was not the soft grace of her illusion, but as sharp and deadly as the silver sheen upon a sword's point.

She raised her arms above her head and as she did so, the waters of the pond rose at her command. If she could not have her prize, then no one would.

As Feliciano gasped and held onto his beloved, Ludwig turned to see the wall of water behind them. The larger man ran, holding his petite brunette against his chest as the nixie dropped her arms to her side causing the wall of water to rush forward engulfing the couple.

fighting to stay afloat and not let go of his Feliciano, Ludwig swam with one arm, and tread water with both legs furiously. However, the tide was no ordinary tide, the current was fueled by the nixie's hatred and jealousy and it soon became too much.

Ludwig lifted Feliciano over head even as the waters rushed over him, leaving him gasping for air at each opportunity. Fearing this would be the end, Ludwig called for help with each breathe he stole as they were swept along in the current. Surely his brother might hear them and come to their aid with a rope?

Though Gilbert was far outside of earshot, their cries were heard by a passing sorcerer from a far away land, he had traveled far from his Island home in search of new spells from the dark schwarzwald region.

Considering himself a good and helpful sorcerer, the man ran toward the sound and seeing the two men fighting against the current, the terrified brunette, now in the water along side the blonde who looked near to drowning, the wizard Kirkland called out to them.

"Oi! You chaps need a hand? Alright!" He rubbed his palms together, the electric spark igniting between them he turned both palms toward the two men struggling to remain afloat. "Abrakazam and Allakazoter - something that can handle the water!"

There was a light that suddenly surrounded them. Feliciano grabbed hold of his love's sleeve, but too soon he felt his grip loosening, shrinking, changing.

As Feliciano and Ludwig disappeared, they were replaced by two small green amphibians. The smaller Feliciano, now a frog, Ludwig now a toad.

Surely the sorcerer had meant well, as he called out sounding surprised at the outcome of his own magic, "I say! frogs, well there you go, no need to thank me boys!"

The newly reunited lovers were swept along with the tide, but webbed feet did not work as hands with fingers had. In shock as to their new forms, but now able to ride out the waves both safe from the water and disguised from the nixie, Ludwig and Feliciano found that soon they were seperated and unable to see the other.

The nixie's wrath at losing what had been promised her knew no limit. Her tide rolled along with her anger and Feliciano was washed along with the waves far to the east while Ludwig found himself being taken west.

After some time, the waves slowly slackened and receded back to the nixie's pond, but the damage had already been done.

Feliciano stood, finding himself human again. His elation at being back in the body he knew faded fast as he looked around him. The weather was cold and nothing was familiar. He was alone in a strange land. No matter how he looked, no matter how he called out, he neither saw nor heard his husband.

As Feliciano was looking for him far to the east, Ludwig was lying unconscious in the land far to the west. Slowly opening cloudy blue eyes, the blonde man stood and raised a hand to his aching head as he swayed, dizzy for a moment. Looking down at where he had been laying, he recognized what must have caused the pain. A large boulder protruded from where he had been laying his head.

Suddenly a thought came to the tall blonde. What was he doing there? Why was he wet? and, most chilling to him, he realized he did not know his own name, nor where he had come from.

He looked about and then down at himself. He looked through his clothes, finding nothing. It was not until he raked a hand through his soaking blonde hair, clearing it from his face that he felt the ring on his finger.

All at once memories came flooding his mind. He was married. The vision of a beautiful slender brunette moved in ripples as though from beneath water. He couldn't clear the images enough to recognize the face he so longed to see or to bring forth the name that hovered just on the tip of his memory.

As Ludwig, though he did not know that was his name, made his way toward civilization in the hopes that he might find the brunette in his mind's eye, or at least someone who might know him and point him in the direction of his petite love, one heavy booted foot landed on something hard and shiny.

It was the gold flute, which had drifted along in the wake of the nixie's wrath.

In a flash, Ludwig recalled the sound of a sorrowful and desperate song and it pierced his heart so that he sat down right there and cried though he did not know why.

Many months passed and the blonde to the west took a job as a shepherd. He was employed to take a flock of sheep to a market in the kingdom to the east, his homeland, though he did not know it. He took the job, feeling that it was the right thing to do.

At the same time in the kingdom far to the east, Feliciano knew he needed to make his way west in the hopes that seeing that he was missing, Ludwig might have returned home looking for him.

However, without any money and few skills to speak of, it took him many months to find a way west. At long last he was able to join a group of men leading livestock west to market. He joined the team as a chef and kept his spirits up with the hope that he would be reunited with his love soon. Feliciano focused on the meals he prepared for his companions and learned not to cry as often. Only when the night was long and dark and he could not sleep did he give in to the sorrow and the worry for his missing Ludwig.

One day the traveler coming from the east saw a herd of sheep and other livestock grazing on a hill nearby. He was near to the market now, but as it was late, he thought he might seek out the company of others, for his nights had been long and lonely, filled with half remembered words and images and his heart ached for something to distract him from the nagging pain of uncertainty.

Ludwig drove his sheep toward the camp and was welcomed in by the other men who were sitting around a fire. The blonde only just realized he was hungry when the men began to brag about their chef. Just wait until he tried his food, they told their new friend.

When Feliciano stepped from out of the wood, the apron he wore filled with berries from the forest, he dropped his grip and let the fabric go slack, the berries spilling to the ground.

"Ludwig!" He gasped, but his words were lost amidst the sounds of his travelling companions' concerns as each raced to see what troubled their chef.

When the blonde newcomer joined them, he did not recognize his beloved, instead he simply picked the berries from where they had fallen and though he felt something was different, Ludwig did not know what it could be and so stayed silent.

Feliciano's heart broke anew knowing that his husband did not recognize him. silently he made the meal and then walked away along the edge of the herd.

Coming to a stop, Feliciano looked up into the full moon above and the sight brought back memories of the months so long ago now, that he had fought so hard to free his love from the nixie's grasp. What spell was this, he wondered, that had stolen his beloved man's memories?

Feliciano sat and brought his knees to his face fighting to hold back the tears that were always so near to spilling. He had found Ludwig only to lose him all over again, and this time, he did not know how he could bring him back.

While his love sat in the moonlight, choking back on tears he tried to keep inside, Ludwig rose from the camp fire. The meal had been delicious and somehow familiar. He had the sudden compulsion to seek out the cook and speak with him, though he could not put his finger on it, there had been something about the other man.

He walked for a time along the edge of the grazing herd until he saw the smaller figure, knees drawn up alone in the light of the full moon.

Ludwig's heart pained sharply to see the young man so miserable and alone. Never questioning himself, he instinctively moved towards Feliciano to set beside him on the grassy earth of the hillside.

The brunette turned his watery caramel eyes to him and said nothing. Feliciano's words stuck in his throat, he didn't know what to say.

Neither did Ludwig, instead of speaking, he brought the flute from his pocket. Finally finding words, as Feliciano's eyes opened fully at the sight of the golden flute.

"My journey has been, strange. At times vhen I find myself in despair for a life I do not remember, I think of this tune...I do not know from vhere it comes, but...I think meine liebe played for me." Ludwig shrugged then, feeling himself blush at how much he had said.

Without another moment's hesitation, Ludwig brought the flute to his lips. He had been trying to recreate the sound in his mind along his travels east. He played the flute, but was unable to recreate the sorrowful and lingering sound.

The broad shouldered blonde sighed and began to apologize, but before the words could leave him, the smaller man beside him had reached for the flute and brought it to his own lips.

As Feliciano played the flute as if it were his heart, the notes fell into place in perfect time in Ludwig's mind. With each note, the man, lost for so long, began to remember.

He watched the petite brunette's nimble fingers on the keys; moonlight gleamed off the ring on his left hand, one identical to his own. Blue eyes moved from those of caramel turned to the moon above to warm mahogany hair, and the little curl to the side that as he recognized he could not believe he had ever forgotten.

It was as though the watery ripples that had obscured his memory calmed to clear glass and as he saw Feliciano here, now, playing the sorrowful tune, he was also seeing him months ago, playing beside the pond and Ludwig knew why his vision had been so blurred. He remembered his name, his life, and most importantly his love.

Feliciano played the tune to its end and lowered the flute to the ground between them. He was afraid to meet beloved sky blue eyes, afraid he would still see no spark of recognition within their depths.

He needn't have feared so, for as soon as the flute had left his lips, the brunette felt a touch he had missed mightily for so long. He leaned into the hand that now cupped his face, Ludwig had moved in front of his beloved now and brought Feliciano in close in a passionate embrace, lips longing for contact so long met again and the lovers rejoiced at their reunion.

This time there was no wrathful nixie, no well meaning, but troublesome sorcerer, nothing to keep them apart.

Blue eyes glistened with tears, as they gazed into beloved caramel. Feliciano had never seen his strong man cry and tightened his hold around Ludwig's neck, kissing him as much as he could, making up for all the lost time apart.

The couple stayed on the edge of the herd in the light of the moon all night long in eachother's arms until the pink light of dawn broke over the hill. Even then they never left eachother's sight, always within reach of one another.

Ludwig gave his payment for driving the sheep to market to the other team and though they were sorry to lose their talented chef, Feliciano's traveling companions saw that he was happier now than he had been along their journey.

Now knowing where he was and who he was, Ludwig guided them home. His brother rejoiced to see him alive and with Feliciano too, who all in the village had worried over, no one knowing what had happened to the young man.

The party lasted many days; the pond was filled in with stones from a nearby quarry one moonless night, and Feliciano and Ludwig returned to their life happily.

It goes without saying that the two lived happily ever after; Feliciano never shed another tear that wasn't one of joy, and Ludwig always returned home each night, never having to fear the nixie again.

_End of the first fairytale in the series. Many, many more to follow! Please, please review, dear sweet readers! Bitte? Per favore? I do so hunger for your thoughts!_

_Oh, and if anyone knows of a good collection of Italian fairytales, I'd love to know!_


	2. The Prince who Feared Nothing

_Hello my beloved readers! I apologize for the wait on this update; I've been really busy with school and work (lol, I'm actually in DC for a conference…and here I am writing a Ger/Ita fairytale in my hotel room and I couldn't be happier! XD ) So anyway, I hope you all like this one, its a little darker than the last, but certainly not the darkest in the book! And its just so damn romantic – So without further ado, _

_My Ger/Ita adaptation of: The Prince Who Feared Nothing. _

_..._

Once upon a time in a land of deep forests, dark caverns and impossibly high mountains inhabited by spirits, the good as well as wicked elves, giants, ghosts, and untold frightening apparitions, there lived a prince who feared none of these things.

The prince lived with his older bother and though he loved his brother very much, now that he was grown he wanted to set out on his own to see what he could make of his life in the wide world.

Being tall and strong, the prince thought to himself that there was no cause to fear the creatures of the forests, no cause to fear a thing at all. The brave prince had never known fear and did not believe the superstitions of the peasant folk.

Thus, one day the younger prince said goodbye to his brother.

"Bruder, vhere vill you go?" The white haired older brother asked, his crimson eyes intrigued by the prospect of wandering himself.

The younger brother, being slightly taller, looked down at the older and shrugged his shoulders. "I vill travel as far as my legs can carry me, to see as much as I can see, und perhaps to find my own place in the vorld."

"Ja, but" the pale older brother replied, "make sure to keep your eyes open in the forest Ludwig, und do not anger the spirits that live in the depths of the Schwarzwald."

Ludwig looked at his brother seriously, smoothing blonde locks back with one hand. "I am not superstitious as you are Gilbert. I know there is nothing to fear. I vill be fine, und one day I vill return vith fortune, love, und all the things for which a prince must quest."

With that Ludwig turned and left his brother's home to explore the world and see if he could make his own place in it.

He traveled far, far across many lands, to the north, the west, the south, the east. Brave and strong, he had no cause to fear. He fought bandits who would try to rob him, and though he did see the spirits in the depths of the wood, he was not afraid.

Finally, the prince came upon a giant's home. As he was tired from his journey, he sat down on the large stoop to rest.

Ludwig slept for a time, leaning on the giant's stoop. Finally, he opened sky blue eyes and rubbed the sleep from them. As he stood to continue his traveling further to the east, his eyes fell upon the pieces of a game that could only belong to the giant. The large nine-pins and huge rounded boulder were surely far too big to belong to a human.

The prince looked to either side. He looked to the nine-pins. _Surely I should not play with these, as they do not belong to me…_Ludwig thought as he surveyed the pins, made of boulders as big as a man. However, he was curious to see if he could, to test his strength and see if there was something he could not do.

Though the pins were indeed heavy, Ludwig was not a prince who had spent his days inside doing nothing but leisurely activities. No, he had spent his life hunting, climbing, and working hard. He had grown to be quite strong, but also determined and so, though the pins were heavy, he managed to set them up, and then pushed the rounded boulder down the hill into them.

As the boulder crashed into the others and knocked them down, Ludwig laughed, at ease.

His laugh did not go on unheard however, as the giant opened the large door of his home and stepped out. "Who is this, who can play with my things? No human can lift them!" The giant looked about and finally gazing down, he saw the prince.

Ludwig looked up defiantly into the giant's wild violet eyes.

"You, little worm!" The giant said, "How can you bowl with my nine pins? Where did you get the strength to do that?"

The giant was indeed tall, Ludwig estimated he was as much as 12 feet tall, as he was nearly double his own height, and broad, as broad as a horse. But Ludwig had no fear of the giant and so held his chin high and shoulders squared. "You think you are the only one vith strong arms? I can do anything you can do und more!"

"Really?" the giant stepped closer, twisting the ends of the long scarf he wore in between his fingers. "If that is so…" The giant glanced over one shoulder before continuing, "Then go and get me an apple from the tree of life."

Ludwig squinted bright blue eyes as he looked up at the giant suspiciously. "Und vhat vill you do vith it if I do?" Something told him he didn't want to help this giant get any stronger.

"Oh, nyet." The giant said as he smiled slightly. "You must be from far away indeed if you do not know of my little sister's desire for an apple from the tree of life. It is for her, not for me that I ask." The giant leaned down and whispered, "She will not leave me alone until I can bring it to her, but I have been unable to find the tree."

"I vill find it." Ludwig was confident he could find the tree and once he found it, he knew nothing could prevent him from picking the apple.

"Do not think it will be easy. Many have tried and have never returned home." The violet eyed giant looked the prince over appraisingly. "of course, none have been able to lift my boulders before either."

Ludwig felt a chill course through his bones as the giant continued to stare and he was much relieved when at last the giant spoke again.

"Very well. We will see if you are as strong as you seem to be. But you should know the tree is said to be sheltered by a large iron fence and guarded by wild beasts." The giant's eyes glistened and he became surrounded by an ominous glowing aura as he described the dangers of the quest the prince had just accepted.

Ludwig shrugged. "No matter." He had hunted wild beasts before, and what danger was a fence, when he had scaled mountains?

The giant looked sidelong at the prince. "Well, if you do manage to get in, then you will find a gold ring hanging above the tree. You must reach the apple through this ring."

Prince Ludwig wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but the giant's smile seemed to grow malevolently as he spoke. Leaning in close to the prince again the giant's words were as treacherous as ice. "I have heard it is very painful and no one who has gotten that far has ever succeeded in picking the apple, let alone survived." The giant straightened with a small giggle.

Ignoring the giggle and the ominous portent of what the giant had said, Ludwig was sure of himself and that this was exactly the kind of adventure a young man needed. "I vill succeed. I vill survive."

The prince took leave of the giant and went out in search of the tree of life. He searched high and low, at sea and on land, in all directions of the earth until finally he had traveled a year and a day and he came upon the garden, guarded by wild beasts and surrounded by an iron fence.

Ludwig waited until nightfall when the great beasts lay down to sleep. He drew close carefully, his sword at the ready, but they did not stir. He sheathed his weapon and made to climb the locked fence. In no time he was over it and approaching the tree of life which stood in the center.

There was the golden ring, hanging above him. The metallic ring shimmered in the breeze that caused it to sway overhead near the single apple growing on the tree; an apple the same shade of vibrant gold as the ring.

The prince removed his cloak and doublet, rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to the elbow, set aside his sword, and looked up at the ring. Ludwig knew he would need to climb the tree growing beside the tree of life in order to reach through the ring. There was no time to construct a ladder, and at any rate he certainly didn't have the necessary tools, having only his sword and a smaller knife to act as a cutting implement.

Though he was a muscular man and worried that the limb would not support his weight, he climbed out to the edge and reached his arm through the gold ring, never fearing the pain of which the giant had warned him.

When he had reached through the ring, and grasped the apple in his fist, the golden circle suddenly constricted and shrank to fit over his upper arm.

Still holding the apple in his outstretched arm, Ludwig stared; blue eyes transfixed on the golden circle as it began to hum and glow. A tremendous power surged through his veins as the ring burned through the fabric of his sleeve to fit tightly around his upper arm.

The tall blonde didn't know what to make of this as he climbed down from the tree. After redressing, leaving the burned end of the sleeve, Ludwig made his way toward the gates, still perplexed by what the ring had done. He moved his arm as he walked. It seemed the ring would be there for all time. It certainly showed no signs of coming off.

This time without thinking he strode right up to the gate guarded by the various wild beasts. He neither took note of the now awake animals nor the heavy lock on the iron gates, but merely reached to pull them open. The gates crashed open at his lightest touch!

His sky blue eyes wide, the prince looked again to the ring on his arm. "This must be the vork of this ring…" He spoke aloud to himself as he walked through the gates.

Gasping, the tall blonde with the golden ring on his arm took a step back. A lion was standing right in front of him! Ludwig had been lost in his thoughts of the ring and its mysterious power and had not seen it.

Even as he reached for his sword, the great beast astonished him. It knelt down at his feet and was as docile as a house cat. Ludwig reached to pet the large animal's mane and it even purred as one.

Now, feeling the effects of the ring as it gave the strong man even more strength and with a lion at his side, the prince returned to the giant to give him the apple from the tree of life.

At first the violet eyed giant was happy to see him. He smiled a bit more than the small smile he had had a year ago, exclaimed his surprise that Ludwig had managed to get the apple at all, and thanked him before leaving to give his sister the desired fruit.

However, upon seeing that there was no golden ring upon her brother's arm, the giant's wicked sister cried, "Vanya! You didn't get it yourself! I wanted you to get it yourself for me! Do you not love me Ivan, my big brother?" She explained about the golden ring and the giant quickly lied to make her stop clinging to him and crying as she was.

"N-n-natalya! Of, of course I d-did! I've only left it outside, I'll go get it and bring it to you!" The giant, so strong and fierce, who could frighten all the humans he had met save one, was terrified of his youngest sister.

It was less than two days before the giant found the prince again as Ludwig was making camp in a nearby wood.

"I have come for the ring!" the violet eyed giant announced as he crashed through the underbrush, moving trees from his path.

The blonde had only just awoken and pushing the hair from his face, the prince scrambled for his sword. "Nein, it is mine, and can not be removed from my arm besides!"

The two fought, and with the ring giving the man even more strength than he had had, Ludwig was an equal match to the giant. They wrestled eachother well into the day as the sun rose to noon then made its way across the western sky into the late afternoon.

Though the giant had the chance to nearly get the ring off several times, it was true that it did not budge and finally as the light was giving way to dusk and both combatants were becoming exhausted; the giant, Ivan knew he would only be able to retrieve the ring from its master once the man was dead. Such was the way of magical things, the giant knew.

As both caught their breath, the prince, leaning against a tree, the giant taking a seat on a large table rock protruding from the hillside, the violet eyed giant proposed a truce.

The prince accepted, and nodded his head, blonde locks now thoroughly disheveled.

But no sooner had the sword dropped from Ludwig's grip than the larger Ivan was on him.

The giant overpowered the surprised man and plucked both sky blue eyes from their sockets as the prince fought vainly beneath him.

"We will see how well you do without sight, da?" The giant smiled his unnervingly slight smile, though the man beneath him could not see it.

Chuckling lightly and thinking that in addition to the ring, he could give his sister the man's eyes as a trophy, the giant picked up the struggling prince, whose strength did him no good when he had been so blinded, and carried him to the edge of a cliff.

There the giant left the prince and chuckling lightly, decided to take a nap and then come back and take the ring from the man's arm once he had fallen to his death into the ravine below.

The situation was dire for the brave prince as he staggered along the cliffside unseeing. Both arms swept out in front of him, Ludwig tried to latch onto anything that could give him an idea of where the giant had left him, and perhaps lend him some support so he could find his way back to his sword.

He stepped backward, unable to find anything within reach. The blinded prince was just about to turn around, an action which would have caused him to slip off the edge of the cliff to his death, when he turned his head toward the sound of running paws and a low growling.

The lion had been hunting during the day and now returned to his master. Taking the edge of Ludwig's shirt in his mouth, the great cat saved the prince from a certain and untimely death.

This lion was no ordinary creature, but an enchanted one, the sort of creature the prince had read about as a boy in his brother's care. The lion guided the prince back to his pack and sword and helped him to sheath the weapon and sling the pack over his shoulder.

Ever helpful to the man who had been brave enough to get the golden apple of life and yet not eat it himself out of greed, but to give it away, the lion guided the wounded prince over and under mountains, through great forests, and over wide rushing rivers until at last they came to a crystal clear pool of water in a kingdom far to the south from where the prince had been blinded by the giant.

Ludwig knelt at the pools edge and felt the water between his fingers as the lion sat beside him and nudged his nose into the prince's broad shoulder.

The blinded prince reached into the pool and brought the clear water to his lips for a drink. He drank deeply of the water, and as he dipped his hands in for another gulp of the fresh liquid, the lion pushed into his shoulder, causing the tall blonde to lose his balance and fall face first into the pool.

Ludwig spluttered in the water and coughed, wondering why his faithful lion had betrayed him. Finally pulling himself from the pool, the sopping prince turned to the lion to yell at him and demand an answer for pushing him into the water.

His brow was furrowed, his mouth open to bellow at the lion, but soon his expression changed from anger to shock. He blinked. He was seeing the lion. Golden fur in the sunlight shown back to him, bright golden eyes looked up at him.

The newly sighted prince quickly stood and looked about the world. He could see! His eyes had been miraculously restored! More blue and brighter than they had ever been before, sharper than ever before, he could see farther and clearer!

The tall man dropped to his knees again; this time in gratitude and thanked the heavens, the magic of the pool, and the lion for saving him. Though he had not spoken a word, even to himself since being blinded, Ludwig had felt useless without his sight, and what is a life without purpose? Nothing, he had thought in the dark reaches of his mind.

Nothing.

But now his sight had been restored to him, and he no longer felt that his life would be without utility, the prince suddenly knew what he wanted from life. He had found adventure, and strength, he had yet to find love.

Ludwig tousled the lion's mane happily as he sat beside the pool.

He never expected the creature to speak, and it was with shock that the prince sat up to listen to the words suddenly coming from the lion's mouth. "Do you know why I have taken such an interest in you, prince?"

The blonde man leaned forward and shook his head.

"It is because you do not give in to fear, you are brave beyond measure and strong, stronger now since you have the ring's power."

Ludwig stared, his bright blue eyes wide as the lion continued.

"Not only do you have strength and bravery, but you are not overcome with greed as have been all others who have come to the tree of life. They have all perished because they sought the apple for themselves, but you sought it for another."

The lion now regarded him, tilting his head to side, the bright mane rippling in the sun. "I must ask you, what do you intend to do with the strength the ring has given you? What do you want from life, prince?"

Ludwig thought about his answer carefully as the lion waited.

"I think I vill use the ring's power for good. I should seek damsels in distress just as the princes do in all the books." The tall blonde man blushed uncertainly, "I suppose I vill find one to love und marry her." He shrugged and made to stand from the pool's edge.

The lion stopped him. "And is it a _princess_ you want to save and marry?"

Ludwig's brows furrowed again, and he felt his heart beat quicken in his chest. Surely this lion did not know the thoughts he had had in secret. He had not shared those with a soul! Not even his brother. The heat crept over his neck and face and the prince grew more and more embarrassed as he knew his flushed face betrayed him.

He coughed. "It, it is vhat all the princes in all the books do. To save a princess und marry her. It's the noble thing to do, ja? Vhat I am supposed to do."

The lion looked up at the prince for a time. It seemed an eternity to Ludwig who was growing uncomfortable under the creature's golden gaze that felt as though the lion could see all the way to his soul, and all the secrets he kept carefully locked away.

Finally the lion spoke again and nodded his shaggy head toward a castle's ruined tower far in the distance. "There, in that castle you will find…what you are looking for. Someone needs saving, and you will be the one to help them."

Ludwig nodded, and felt his blush receding somewhat as the lion's tone grew serious. "But be warned. No one who has tried to save the one trapped inside has succeeded."

"I vill succeed." The prince was confident and ready to test his new strength as the lion went on.

"It will not be easy, you will need strength of will as well as strength of body to survive."

Ludwig nodded his understanding and after saying his goodbye and thanking the lion for all his help, the prince set off for the castle in the distance.

In less than a day he was at the gate. It hung from the hinges and creaked in the breeze that moved it back and forth slowly.

On his guard, the prince strode forward into the courtyard and through the wide open front doors.

There was no guard, no sentry, no one to impede his access into the empty palace. All around him Ludwig noticed the unmistakable signs of a struggle long over. Dust settled about the overturned tables and broken chairs.

Where was the princess in distress? The one who needed saving? Ludwig looked all over the palace until finally he sat down beside a long cold hearth and wondered what to do.

"Vhat am I to do now? The lion said it vas here I vould find vhat I sought. There is nobody in danger here, there is not a soul here at all." He spoke to himself in the cavernous hall, and heard only the echoes of his own voice coming back to him in waves.

He did not see the other person enter the room; it was only the small voice that spoke up that alerted the prince to the fact that he was not alone.

"Veh~ Did you say you came to save me?"

Ludwig stood and turned quickly, raising the dust in clouds around his feet.

There in the shadows beside the wall of the great hall stood a young prince. The tall blonde looked at the young man with wide eyes. He could not deny his heart; this was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Ludwig blushed deeply again. The lion must truly have seen into his soul.

Ludwig approached the other prince, who looked to be no more than a few years younger than himself. He was shorter and slimmer in stature, with dark hair; one curl stood out to the side.

"Come out of the shadows so I vill be able to see you better." The blonde spoke to the brunette.

"Veh~ I don't know…" The petite man shuffled his feet and backed against the wall. "Did you really say you came to save me? No one has been able to before..." The other prince looked up from the shadows, his warm caramel eyes wide with worry but also hope. "Who are you?"

Ludwig's flushed face only intensified at his embarrassment. How could he have forgotten chivalry so completely? He had memorized all the rules long ago!

Stepping forward to take the other man's hand, the blonde bent low at the waist and then stood to introduce himself properly, as a prince was supposed to do.

"I am Ludwig, I have traveled far from my homeland to the north. I have fought a giant, gained the power of this ring," Still blushing he indicated the gold band on his upper arm. "I have lost my sight, only to have it restored, und I seek to use the new strength I have acquired for good. I heard that you vere in trouble und that I could help."

The other prince smiled sadly up into the bright blue eyes looking so intently down upon him in the shadows. "Ciao Ludwig, my name is Feliciano." The petite man kept his hand in Ludwig's larger one as he stepped from the shadows against the wall.

The tall blonde gasped as he looked down at the brunette.

"Feliciano, vhat happened here, vhat happened to you?" Ludwig asked, never releasing the other prince's hand.

Feliciano was covered in dark black soot, his skin appeared frost bitten in places and his once rich clothing was in tatters. The smaller man sighed again and made to step back, but found his hand still held tightly.

Caramel eyes filled instantly with tears as the soot covered prince began to tell his story.

A curse had been placed upon the palace and his family had all been killed; the tears rolled down Feliciano's cheeks as he spoke of the loss of his brother and grandfather particularly. Now, the ghosts and demons who reigned over his home had left only him alive, and with their foul magic had put the curse upon him that covered him in soot and burned blackened marks. Not only this, but he could never leave the castle grounds, as soon as he tried, he was paralyzed, unable to make a single step forward.

Ludwig felt his grip tighten on the small hand is his own as Feliciano spoke, the tears falling down his face left no tracks in the soot. The tall blonde found that he longed to wipe the ash and black marks from the petite man's face. His hand twitched to move to do so, but Ludwig knew, as all princes are told, magic wounds are not so easily removed.

Instead, he knelt on one knee, as he had read all the princes did when they pledged themselves to a cause. Ludwig kissed the soot darkened hand he held in his own, and though he felt his face warm again as the blush stole across his cheeks, blue eyes glanced up and found those of caramel with an intense determination.

"I vill save you from this place Feliciano. I vill find a vay to lift the curse from you. I pledge myself to you, my sword, und my life."

As the tall blonde knelt and looked seriously up at the brunette with an expression of unwavering duty and… Feliciano wondered, had there been something more behind his words? The cursed prince felt suddenly sure this brave man could be the one to save him and he made to drop to his knees himself to embrace this foreign prince Ludwig who had come to rescue him with promises of devotion.

But Feliciano stopped himself. The slender bedraggled prince had suddenly remembered the demon-ghosts, and no matter how strong Ludwig was, surely he could not withstand the torture the others who had come to free him had tried to endure and failed.

Looking into the determined sky blue eyes that held his own, Feliciano's heart clenched. He didn't want to see Ludwig try and fail as all the others. Did not want to hear his screams echo the halls as all the others had before.

He would have to leave before nightfall.

"No, no, no!" Feliciano shook his head violently as Ludwig stood perplexed that the other man seemed to suddenly not want rescuing. "No, veh~, the demonic spirits that cursed me, they will torture you horribly! Only by withstanding the torment for not one, but three nights, veh…_three nights_ without making a sound of pain can the demons be defeated and the curse lifted!"

Feliciano rushed into the arms of the broad shouldered prince though he had just met him, and wailed into his chest, "You seem so nice and you care so much, I don't want you to be hurt! You'll have to leave! All the others died screaming by the second night…" The brunette trailed off miserably.

Ludwig took hold of the smaller man's shoulders and held him at arms length. He then moved his hands along Feliciano's arms to take both his hand in his own again. "I vill not be defeated, I am strong und I vill not make a sound."

The blonde spoke so seriously and his azure eyes never blinked at the prospect of a painful demise. Feliciano shook his head violently again. "No, you must not understand! Veh~" Caramel eyes looked down at the floor. "You can't, no one can live through it, it is impossible."

The taller prince reached out and lifted the other's chin. "I can do anything." Ludwig felt his heart beat furiously in his chest. So Feliciano wasn't a princess as all the damsels in his books had been, he was in distress and Ludwig could not bear to think of leaving him here to be held under the curse for all his life, trapped by murderous spirits. "Feliciano, I have pledged myself to you und I vill free you from this curse."

The tall blonde squared his shoulders and spoke confidently. "I can handle anything, I am not superstitious. Vhat can they do to me that is vorse than knowing I have left you here? Vhat kind of a man vould I be then?"

Feliciano could see he would not be able to dissuade the other prince, and finally relented. His petite shoulders slumped, he began to step back into the shadow as the sun faded below the horizon. Speaking softly before he turned away, Feliciano hoped Ludwig was as strong willed as he said. "Veh, Per favore," He spoke in the language of his own land, "reconsider…or if you won't, then I will pray for your strength tonight, you must not show a hint of fear in your heart or they will overwhelm you and take your life."

And then he was gone, and Ludwig was alone in the great hall.

He went to a window and looked out over the mountain below. He rested one hand on the hilt of his sword as he waited for the demons to come. He would not run away, he would not be afraid. He had never feared anything before, Ludwig told himself, he would not start now.

The moment the sun disappeared completely, three demonic spectres rose from the floor. They were unlike any from the depths of his forested home, unlike any in the stories he had read as a child.

The tall prince watched from the window as the three demons began to play a game of cards. They laughed in high shrieks to eachother and spat at one another when the other was cheating. It was not long however, until they began to sniff at the air, Spectral eyes scanned the room until finally all three sets fell upon the silhouette against the window.

Ludwig pulled the sword from its sheath as the hellish spectres rushed toward him, but it only sliced through air; the demons laughing as they reformed and took it from his hand.

The prince looked to the gold ring on his arm and hoped it would lend him more strength to fight the unearthly creatures. He would not submit willingly to their torment.

Ludwig ran toward them as one tossed his sword to the side. He punched high and low, he kicked and dodged their attacks. With satisfaction he saw that he had landed more blows to them than they had landed on him.

However, a demon tired far later than a man, and even with the ring aiding his natural strength Ludwig was overcome by the demons before the first lights of dawn could drive them back below ground.

More spectres had risen from the floor and walls of the palace and they dragged him around the hall, beat him, stabbed him, and tormented him in ways most foul.

He uttered not a sound throughout the pain, which only infuriated the demons further.

Near dawn, when the pink light of the sun had just begun to break across the horizon, the dissatisfied demons threw him against a wall and sank beneath the floor tiles.

Though Ludwig had uttered not a word and grit his teeth through the pain, he would have lied if he had said he had not felt every bit. As the light of the new day shown through the cracked glass of the window, He lay there, feeling as though he may die. His limbs ached, he could barely move them; he had been stabbed many times, and could feel the cold of the palace floor acutely from his wounds as he bled onto the ground. _I will die and Feliciano will be trapped here forever. I have failed. _The strong prince felt anything but as he lay on the ground, heartbroken that he had not been able to keep his promise to the beautiful and cursed prince he had only just met.

It was as Ludwig lay there prepared for the death he knew awaited him, that hurried footsteps padded across the floor toward him.

The blonde man opened his eyes as he felt his head lifted into the other man's lap. Feliciano had a bottle of the crystal clear liquid of the pool, and he brushed the sweat dampened hair from Ludwig's brow.

"Three were left by the palace wall. I wondered why," Caramel eyes clouded in worry as he poured the water of life into a towel and began to wash Ludwig's face. "But, veh~ now I know." The cursed prince washed the wounded one from head to foot with the water of life and every bruise, laceration, and puncture wound the water of the pool touched was healed.

Ludwig felt new vigor flow through his veins and though it sent his heart racing, he took Feliciano in his arms and held him close. "Danke Feliciano, I vould surely have died." He spoke into the soot blackened hair he knew would be a shade of brown were he to see it uncovered from the cursed soot and ash.

"Veh~ no," The smaller prince spoke up, "you would be safe had you never come here! You should leave, how can you withstand another night? The second night is worse, they will be even more vicious and cruel. I do not want to hear you cry out in pain. Noone has made it past the second night!"

"I vill be the first und I vill be the last." Ludwig took the other prince's chin in his hand and brought their lips together in a chaste, chivalrous kiss. Feliciano returned the taller man's kiss with his own, and both were glad to know the other had felt the same since meeting the day before.

When they broke from the kiss, Ludwig looked down and saw that Feliciano's tattered soot covered boots were now clean. "How did this happen?" He asked the other man astonished.

"Because you withstood the first night, the curse is beginning to lift!" Feliciano bounced with happiness. He kicked the boots off, and smiled as he wiggled clean toes in the daylight.

All through the day the two princes got to know one another better, Ludwig told Feliciano of his homeland and Feliciano told him of his, and the family he had once had.

Each felt the attraction they had known initially deepen into something more as they spent the day together.

Feliciano had been listing his favorite kinds of pasta happily as the afternoon turned to evening, and he suddenly stopped between linguine and fettuccine.

Both men were silent as the last light of the day leaked from the window sill and the sun began to slip below the horizon.

Ludwig rose quickly and rushed Feliciano out of the hall. "Go. I vill be fine."

The slight prince's caramel eyes instantly became watery. "I don't want to leave you! Veh~ What if you don't make it?"

"Of course I vill, I must. I vill not give in." Ludwig's crisp blue eyes were serious and determined as he pushed Feliciano up to stairs he had seen him ascend the night before.

Now alone in the great hall, the brave prince could hear the sobs as his newfound love ran up the stairs. The tall blonde readied himself for the demons he knew would be arriving any moment. He watched the last light fade from the horizon and as the earth was once again blanketed by the night, the specters rose from the floor and immediately set upon him more vigorously than before.

Though Ludwig fought valiantly, the demonic spirits were in even greater number this night, and they dragged him around the hall, beat him, stabbed him, and tossed him back and forth, throwing him into the floor and walls repeatedly until his body was covered in bruises.

He endured it all without a sound.

Finally the dawn broke and the demon spectres reluctantly left their plaything as they dropped beneath the ground. "One more night." They hissed as they disappeared. "One more night and you belong to us."

Sunlight flooded the great hall as the hellish ghouls left but Ludwig's eyes were closed tight in pain and he did not see Feliciano as the smaller man ran down the stairs and rushed to his side.

With tears already in his eyes, the cursed prince again washed the wounded one. Slowly the bruises, lacerations, and punctures healed. Once again a sense of renewed vigor flooded his veins and Ludwig took Feliciano in a deep embrace, their lips finding one another again as they kissed in deeper passion.

It was only as he pulled back from Feliciano's kiss that Ludwig looked over his love and noticed the slender man was clean of his soot and frost bitten black burns up from his boots to his chest and finger tips. Only his arms, neck, and head remained covered by the curse.

Once again the two spent the day together; Feliciano showed Ludwig around his home until it made him too sad and they returned to the great hall. The princes were falling in love, each recognized the change to the deeper emotion as the darkness encroached upon the day and with it brought the coming of the unholy spirits from beneath the earth.

Ludwig promised Feliciano he would endure whatever came his way, he would neither give in to the pain and cry out nor would he leave him there in his cursed state when it was so close to be lifted.

"Do not cry, meine liebe." The blonde spoke to the brunette. "I am not afraid of the pain, und I know that after tonight you vill be free of the curse…" He felt the heat rise across the back of his neck and turn his face red as it had not done since first he met the slight man, whose hand he held tightly in his own.

Ludwig cleared his throat uncomfortably. He thought back to all the books he had read before and dropping to his knee again he swallowed hard. "…und I hope vhen the curse is lifted that you might consent to be my…" The word 'bride' didn't seem to fit for a prince, "to marry me?" Ludwig ended uncertainly and embarrassed even as the last rays of sun were disappearing.

"Si!" The petite brunette jumped into the larger blonde's arms as Ludwig rose with a relieved smile. Feliciano peppered his love with kisses and it was with a great amount of effort that Ludwig reluctantly pried his fiancé from him and pushed him toward the stairs.

When Feliciano had at last run up the stairs, it was as the demons were rising from the floor tiles to surround their prey.

There were far more of them this time and they were determined to make Ludwig cry out in pain and by doing so, claim him as their own.

The third night proved to be the worst, as he endured all the torment of the nights before only intensified in the demon's desperation on this, the last night of the curse's hold on his beloved.

The hellish spectres dragged the brave, silent prince around the hall, they beat him more fiercely, stabbed him more times, and were just trying to pull his limbs from on another when the dawn's light chased them from the great hall to disappear below the ground for the last time.

The demonic ghosts that had terrorized Feliciano would never rise again.

Ludwig stumbled and fell to his knees. He faded into unconsciousness and slumped to his side on the floor even as his love ran to him from the stairway.

The soot had been lifted, the blackened burns erased. The smaller prince, now free from the curse held the other's unconscious head and cried as he brushed back blonde hair and washed the sweat from his beloved's face.

"Amore mio…" Feliciano whispered, hoping the water of life would work its magic a third time.

It took longer this time, but finally, blue eyes opened and Ludwig stirred from the floor.

He had been dead, he was sure he had been dead. But now he was here, alive, and looking up into the face of his love, a face free of soot and dark frost burns.

_Ah, I have succeeded._ Ludwig thought relieved; as Feliciano bent down to bring their lips together again.

The brunette sighed peacefully as the blonde reached into now clean mahogany hair, brushing the curl absently as he deepened the kiss, their tongues intertwining around eachother as their arms echoed the movement.

As the sun rose fully and all of Ludwig's strength returned, he stood and with Feliciano by his side to instruct him on the final acts to clear the curse from the palace, the blonde swept his sword across the front steps thrice, and in doing so ensured that his love could leave the palace that had been both home and prison for so long.

As the princes looked on from the courtyard, the palace was returned to its former glory. The dust disappeared, furniture righted itself, and what had been reduced to ruins was rebuilt.

Ludwig turned to Feliciano and promised that they could return if he wished and bring happy memories to the palace again.

"But first, meine liebe, I must take you back to my homeland, vhere ve can be married." Ludwig blushed less as each time he thought of marrying his slender prince. Only his cheeks colored in a rosy flush as Feliciano smiled and was all too happy to leave the place he had been trapped in for so long.

"Veh~" He sighed happily and spun in the light outside the palace grounds. "I would love to see your home Ludwig, I have never been to the north before! Will there be pasta?"

Ludwig chuckled, as he wrapped an arm around his fiancé, "There vill be if you teach the cooks how to make it, meine liebe."

….

And the prince who feared nothing returned home to his brother, to show him he had grown in strength and seen and done many things, and though Feliciano was a prince, instead of a princess as were in all the tales, his brother accepted him into the family happily.

The wedding party lasted many days and nights and is still spoke of to this day.

Ludwig and Feliciano stayed for a time in Ludwig's forested homeland before they returned to Feliciano's kingdom of the south and did indeed bring many happy memories to the palace so that it became once again, a home and never again a prison.

_The end! Ta~da!_

_I hope it was as enjoyable as the last, I confess I had a headache at the beginning and was super sleepy by the end, so I apologize for any typos I might have missed. _

_I look forward to your reviews, dear readers, oh how they make me smile!_


	3. The Boy Who Was Sold With the Pears

_Buongiorno and guten morgen my lovelies! This update is WAY earlier than usual, (on my list for this weekend is starting Its Just Business ch 15, paperwork, homework, emails, and paintings...omg, paintings I have been trying to finish for WEEEKS. LOL) _

_THE POINT IS: When I got a link for Italian fairytales from the ever wonderful Haruka Hourou, and saw this one, I couldn't help but write it as soon as I got home from work! Its just so perfect and I've been looking for Italian fairytales for a while without luck! took me two days of after work writing but here it is, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!_

_**So Danke and Grazie, Haru~chi! This is dedicated to you.**_

_My Ger/Ita adaptation of: The Girl Who Was Sold With The Pears._

_Oh yeah - and Germania appears in this as Ludi's Grandfather - I know there is some debate as to his exact relation to Germany, but I went with Grandfather for the parallel I could then draw with Rome - and, well it just makes sense to me. (:_

_(Oh - I dont own hetalia, or the characters, etc, etc. If I did, that would rock. XD )_

Once upon a time, there lived a merchant-farmer with his two grandsons. The farmer had once been prosperous beyond measure, his farmlands had stretched far and wide and provided much for the small family. They had had many servants and had indeed lived well.

However, times had grown harsh; his farmlands had dwindled in size after many wars and strife. The farmer's wealth had dissipated drastically and he even considered sending his precious grandsons away to be fostered by foreign lords in the hopes of a brighter future.

For many years he had subsisted by selling four barrels of pears to the king of the land to the north, past the vast mountain ranges where dense woods and clear springs flourished, but where the winter was fierce and biting.

Though his financial troubles were great, the Farmer was blessed in many ways. The foreign king, though his reputation was that of a brutal warrior whose people seemed barbarous to the once wealthy farmer, always demanded the four barrels of pears, which brought money to the farm and kept it running. He was blessed also, by a graceful ageing, which meant he was able to do more in less time than most men his age. Lastly, he was blessed by his two grandsons whom he loved very much.

Though he knew he should not have a favorite, the farmer did. Feliciano, the youngest, was a sweet and kind boy with an easy smile and happy countenance. He was talented both musically and in the arts and cooked well for his family, creating the best pasta dishes from even the barest ingredients in their meager pantry. Not least of Feliciano's traits was his gentle soul and ease at making friends.

The small family continued to survive on the slim profits their farm brought in for years. The grandsons grew and each diverged in their own way. Romano the eldest and a tempestuous, independent boy, was sent to continue his education in the neighboring land to the northeast before the lord to whom he had been fostered sent him away to stay in a land even farther from his home, far west, beside the sea.

The farmer had been reluctant to give up his dear Feliciano, and so had kept the boy close to home.

Sadly, one bad crop can spell disaster when living season by season, and this season the pear tree had failed to yield the necessary four barrels.

How could the farmer hope to provide for himself and his young grandson this year if they could not even count on the much needed payment from the foreign king?

And so it was that one day, the farmer opened the door to the kitchen with a heavy heart. There was the mahogany haired youth, his grandson, humming happily as he added diced tomatoes and spices to the meal being prepared on the stove.

Feliciano looked up to his grandfather and instantly saw the worry on the older man's face.

"Veh! What's wrong Grandpa Rome?" The young man's caramel eyes opened wide as he stepped down from the stool beside the stove and anxiously waited for his grandfather to reply.

The older man looked to his grandson's fearful expression and shaking his head, took a seat at the table. Rome had done much to keep the extent of their troubles from his youngest grandson.

Though it broke his heart to do so, the merchant-farmer knew there was no other solution; he told his grandson just how badly things had gotten; how much they had truly relied upon the yearly purchase of pears by the foreign king, and that the man would have four barrels or none at all.

Rome finally admitted to the young Feliciano that he could not afford to care for himself, let alone the two of them. He would have to send him away for a better future. The food now in the pantry would have to last until the next harvest and Rome knew it would not sustain them both.

With tears in his eyes Feliciano hugged his grandfather close and cried that he did not want to leave.

Though the older man didn't want to lose his second grandson as he had lost the first, he knew what must be done. Rome silenced his grandson's tears with a pat to the head and a promise that he would find a kind lord to foster him.

The dinner was a somber affair, both the older and younger man eating their pasta in a heavy silence.

Suddenly Feliciano's warm eyes lit up and he stood from the table and declared that he had a plan which would save the farm though it would take him far from home, possibly never to return.

He would hide in the fourth barrel, covered by pears. When the king's men came to pick up the yearly supply of fruit, his weight would fool them into believing each barrel was full and his grandfather would be paid the usual amount.

Never fearing what might happen were Feliciano to be discovered, his grandfather agreed.

Surely the talented youth would be able to sneak out of the barrel under cover of night and find work in the castle innocently by the light of day.

And so it was that the plan was carried out not many days later when the northern king's men appeared for the four barrels of pears. As they had been purchasing pears from the man for so long with never a single fruit missing, there was no cause to suspect trickery.

The farmer pocketed the gold he was paid and watched with a leaden heart as his dearest grandson, hidden among the pears, was loaded into the back of the cart and within minutes had disappeared from the horizon as the king's men drove along the mountainous road towards the northern kingdom.

It was a difficult ride as the cart traversed high, steep, and winding mountain trails, and crossed creaking wooden bridges over a wide and rushing river.

However, the caramel eyed youth from the southern kingdom slept for much of the trip, unaware of the natural dangers outside. He ate of the pears and hoped to make well of his life and someday to see his grandfather again.

When at last the king's men drove the cart to the back door of the kitchen and unloaded their cargo, Feliciano held his breath and hoped he would go unnoticed. _I am only a barrel of pears...I am only a barrel of pears..._ He thought, willing the kitchen maids to pass his barrel when they chose to reach in, as he realized he had eaten more pears than was wise on the journey and might easily be found out.

Feliciano's wish was granted and none of the servants discovered him as the barrels were unloaded and moved to the large pantry of the northern king's kitchen.

The young man waited in the barrel of pears until at last he heard not a sound; all the castle had gone to bed. Feliciano climbed from his hiding spot and went to the large wooden door of the pantry intent on sneaking out to wait beside the front gate where he would petition the king for a job when the sun once again cast its light on his new home.

The door was locked.

Panicked, Feliciano tugged and tugged on the heavy wooden door in vain. Finally, admitting defeat, he sat down beside the barrel and lamented his doom, for surely when the kitchen servants opened the doors, he would be found and his grandfather's ruse discovered.

He tried to stay awake, he tried very, very hard, but at last gave in to the temptation of sleep and he slept deeply indeed.

The sun had not yet risen when the doors were opened and the cook entered by candle light to take a bundle of pears to add to the morning meal being prepared for the king's family.

Gasping at the unexpected sight of a young man sleeping among the pears, the cook nearly dropped the candle she carried to light her way. The old woman was just opening her mouth to sound the alarm when the young brunette fell to his knees and begged her for mercy.

"Spare me, oh per favore, please spare me! Have mercy," Feliciano went on, ringing his hands and crying out in one long sentence, "I only try to make a bit of money for my grandpa, I only need a job, I can cook, I can cook!"

Whether it was his tearful appeal for mercy or that the northern king's castle could use another servant, Feliciano never asked, so happy was he that the cook nodded, agreeing to take him on and not tell anyone how he came to be there.

As the days turned to weeks and the weeks to a month Feliciano made fast friends with the other servants of the large stone castle that was now his home. His easy smile and cheerful demeanor enchanted all who met him, from the well bred chamber maids to the low born scullery maids; they were all his friends; his new family of sorts.

On the thirtieth day since his arrival in the pear barrel Feliciano was sent from the kitchen to ask for fresh berries from the garden.

There in the garden, he finally met one of the royal family, though he did not recognize him at first sight.

The prince was near his own age, taller and perhaps just a touch older. Feliciano smiled and waved to the young blonde man who was walking with his hounds along the garden's edge.

Blue eyes met sparkling caramel and neither broke their gaze until Feliciano reached the master gardener.

The brunette followed the elderly man to the blackberry bushes. Looking back over his shoulder as he went, Feliciano saw the taller blonde had looked down, focusing now on his dogs, the tips of his ears bright red.

Unsure what to make of his feelings, but none the less hopeful that the young man with the piercing blue eyes would still be there when he returned, Feliciano hurried to fill his basket with blackberries and with a rushed thank you to the gardener, he ran back to the gates.

There was the blonde youth, surrounded by his pack of hunting dogs still beside the gate, where Feliciano had left him.

The kitchen boy ran up to the taller youth and smiling wide, holding the basket of berries at his back, the brunette bounced happily and introduced himself as the blonde was sending his dogs away toward the great hall, the doors of which stood open at the other end of the courtyard.

"Veh~" Feliciano caught his breath and looked up through the mahogany locks falling into his face. "I'm Feliciano! I help in the kitchens; veh~ I hope we can be friends!"

Blue eyes widened, and the taller young man looked down at the shorter one, "I am Ludwig, und I have never really had a friend before." The blonde felt his face heat even more as the brunette looked at him with a pained expression and looping his arm in Ludwig's, leaned into the taller man's shoulder. "Veh! No friends? that's terrible!"

Feliciano couldn't believe the handsome young man had a hard time making friends, and promised to be the best friend Ludwig could ever have wanted.

This only caused the blonde to look away uncomfortably and blush all the more furiously. "Vell, it is hard to have friends vhen you are a prince und your older bruder is alvays starting trouble vith everyone ve know..." Ludwig trailed off disgruntled over his older brother's impulsivity.

"Veh~ You're the prince? I didn't know!" Feliciano's heart raced as he bent at the waist and began to bow, hoping they could still be friends regardless of station. However, before he could bend very low at all, Feliciano was stopped short by Ludwig's larger hand on his shoulder. The petite brunette looked up quizzically into the broad shouldered blonde's unreadable face.

Ludwig coughed and looked away again as he spoke, angry at his own embarrassment and not sure how to handle the attraction he felt stirring his heart toward the slender caramel eyed young man from the southern kingdom.

"You do not have to do that Feliciano, if ve are friends."

Still looking away and willing his face to obey his command to stop betraying his emotions, Ludwig didn't see the way Feliciano's lit up at the words he had spoken.

"Fantastico!" smiling happily, the slender brunette slid his arm back into the crook of the taller blonde's more muscular one as Ludwig buried his hand in his pocket. "We'll be friends forever, I know it!" Feliciano continued to smile as they walked toward the castle together.

The basket of berries swinging at his other side, the farmer's grandson's only thoughts were of the tall blonde walking silently arm in arm with him. As a young man accustomed to wearing his emotions on his sleeve, the slight brunette sighed, unsure if he would be able to hide the way his heart quickened in his chest when the prince's bright blue eyes turned back his direction.

But he would have to hide it, would he not? Feliciano thought, if Ludwig was a prince and he was not, surely they could never be more than friends...

The thought made his heart clinch painfully, but determined to keep the promise he had made to be the best friend he could, the caramel eyed young man contented himself to lean into the prince's strong arm and be glad of the friendship they had just begun.

As the seasons changed, the wheel of the year turning a full turn and then another, the two youths passed into adulthood; the prince and the kitchen boy were nearly inseparable, always together; they were well known to be the very best of friends.

What was less well known, indeed unknown to all but the prince and the kitchen boy, was that the close friendship all the castle saw was but a cover for the love that had blossomed between them and was expressed only in the rare and stolen moments away from the prying eyes of court.

Feliciano's newfound love had not come without a price however; his payment for Ludwig's affection was the loss of his friendships with the maids he worked alongside. Jealous of how close he had become with the prince, and of the time the two spent together, the spiteful girls spread rumours and gossiped about him behind his back.

They sought to drive the foreign man they had so happily welcomed years ago, away from the kingdom, and finally one of their lies appeared to have succeeded. Feliciano was summoned before Ludwig's grandfather, the king.

While the call rang out throughout the servant's quarters, Feliciano heard not a word.

He had been washing table clothes beside the creek that ran along behind the kitchens, and now, the soaking fabric forgotten, the brunette was lost in the arms of his secret beloved as they kissed, hidden away from the world.

"Veh~" Feliciano sighed, laying his head against Ludwig's broad chest as they broke for air.

The taller man moved to lean against the stone outer wall of the kitchen and wrapped the petite brunette in his arms. "Mm." was Ludwig's only reply, even after the years, his cheeks still flushed pink as a rose during the stolen private moments when he could hold his Feliciano close and feel the heart beating in the slender chest, pressed so close to his own.

Feeling the moment could last forever, the blonde brushed his fingers through his love's mahogany locks and twirled the stray curl once before dropping his hand to rest once more at Feliciano's hips.

Alas, before his hand had been at the smaller man's hips more than a heartbeat and a half, it was at the hilt of his sword, as Ludwig heard rapidly approaching hooves.

Blue eyes narrowed to slits, the prince pulled his sword from its sheath and putting Feliciano behind him, readied himself for whoever approached.

The cloud of dust settled around the hooves of the a snow white steed as it came to an abrupt halt and Ludwig's pale older brother dismounted, running toward them.

"Did you not hear?" The white haired man's crimson eyes flashed as he approached the couple. "Großvater has called Feliciano to the hall," Gilbert laughed as the end of his brother's sword found its way dangerously close to his throat. "vhat, you think I did not know?" The older brother continued to laugh as the younger's face blanched white.

The older prince's laughter went on as his serious younger brother scowled, "Don't vorry Ludwig, I vill not tell on you." Gilbert stepped around his brother's weapon to ruffle the shorter brunette's hair. "I like Feliciano," placing himself between them, the pale haired prince swung an arm over both men's shoulders as he walked back toward his mount. "Its not about that anyvay."

What it was about, Ludwig was unable to find out from his brother as the other prince called over his shoulder and was soon joined by a host of his personal guard. Muttering something dark about a certain aristocratic neighbor, the crimson eyed heir to the throne rode off with only a backwards glance and a crooked mischievous grin.

Thus it was that minutes later, and with a heavy sigh, the tall blonde strode ahead of his secret love into the hall, determined to face his grandfather alongside Feliciano.

Alas, to Ludwig's frustration he was not allowed in. worried azure eyes met and held those of wide anxious caramel brown for as long as they could before Feliciano was shown in to the throne room alone.

The king wore a beaten and weathered golden crown atop long blonde hair and with cool blue eyes, the older man's resemblance to his younger grandson was uncanny. Those blue eyes so very like those of the man he loved now looked down from the dais as the King appraised the kitchen boy.

For a time all was silent.

Then at last the king addressed Feliciano.

Word had reached him that the young kitchen boy, who had become such a close friend to his grandson, had been boasting that he could travel far away into the mountains where legend told of a witch, a dreadful witch indeed who lived in her secret lair; and that he could take from her, her chest of treasures. It was said, the king told Feliciano, that the young man himself had boasted that he had but to decide to do so for the feat to be accomplished.

The king leaned forward, his elbows resting on battle worn leather armour, and pierced the young Feliciano with a sharp gaze. "I do not abide boasting in my keep" The king went on, "Therefore, I command you to go forth and do as you have said you can and bring back the witch's treasure."

The king leaned back in his throne, and surveyed the anxious Feliciano who was denying that he had ever said such things, shaking his head from side to side violently. The king thought of his grandson and the amount of time Ludwig had been spending with the young man. Time the prince could be putting to use training for battle. Though his grandson was already an accomplished warrior with a keen strategic mind, the truth was, the King did not approve of his choice of a friend, nor that Ludwig had yet to begin to court any of the eligible ladies of the realm.

Feeling he was acting in the best interests of his grandson, the king leaned forward and fixed Feliciano with a stern expression. If the youth before him truly did succeed at this quest than he would be welcomed back, however...

"You will return with the witch's treasure or you will not return at all."

The king would not hear Feliciano's protestations that he had never claimed ability to do such a thing.

The wide oak doors opened with a bang as the prince, hearing his love's fearful voice, entered. Though Ludwig offering valiantly to go after the witch's treasure himself in Feliciano's stead, his words fell on deaf ears as well.

And so it was that at that very moment, an escort arrived through the same doors the prince had just rushed through and took their places on either side of the tearful young man.

Feliciano was taken from his prince's side, and amidst the tall blonde's continued protests, the luckless kitchen boy was escorted out of the hall.

Sure he would parish in the errand, the tears fell freely as Feliciano looked over his shoulder to his prince, convinced this would be the last time he did so.

Ludwig continued to appeal to his grandfather, but the only reply the older man gave was that this was for the best.

Finally, seeing he would get nowhere with words, the prince turned away from the king and ran toward the gates himself.

_Feliciano was no warrior, he was no wizard, how could he ever hope to succeed in this fool's errand?_ Ludwig lamented his petite love's fate and felt a deep and instant hatred of the unknown gossips who had caused this sudden heartbreak when the day had been so fair not an hour ago.

Unfortunately, by the time Ludwig had made it to the gates of his city, there was no sign of his caramel eyed love.

Cursing himself for not leaving the hall sooner, so that he could have accompanied Feliciano and protected him along the journey, Ludwig looked side to side and who did his eyes fall upon but the guards who had taken Feliciano from him. The two men were walking back toward the castle.

Sky blue gave way to slits of cool ice as the broad shouldered prince strode toward them and with a shadow crossing his face, pulled back his fist, not once but twice and laid both guards out flat on the cobblestoned street.

Cooley, Ludwig stepped over the unconscious men and with determination, made his way toward the castle again. His destination was clear in his mind; the map room, where he would pour over map after map until he could determine the whereabouts of the witch's hidden lair and then set out to find his Feliciano and help him.

Meanwhile as Ludwig shut himself away with his maps, his sweetheart was lost deep in the dark forest which surrounded the prince's home.

The young man wandered for days without food and only the water of a stream he had been fortunate to come across. On the seventh day, Feliciano was just beginning to give in to his hunger as visions of the pasta he once shared with his grandfather swam before his eyes, always out of reach.

It was while he wandered in a hungered daze that the petite brunette ran directly into a tree. His caramel eyes opened wide as he looked up at the tree's branches; it was an apple tree! And there, beside it was a peach tree! Next to that, a pear tree!

Feliciano ran to the pear tree, and climbed up into the branches, ate his fill of the sweet fruit, and feeling safe amongst the pears that reminded him of home, he fell asleep. There among the pears, he dreampt of his tall blonde love, that he was with him again, and his grandfather and even his brother were there as well.

The young man asleep in the pear tree smiled as he dreamed, surrounded by those who loved him, not alone as he had felt for so many days in the dark shadows of the foreign woods.

As the weak pink light of dawn broke through the trees to light the forest floor in an eerie glow, Feliciano awoke to the somewhat agitated voice of a wizard.

"Alright there mate? And what're you doing so far from home?" The green eyed wizard was sitting at the base of the tree and sipping from a teacup he held genteely in his hand.

Feliciano's eyes filled with tears as he told the wizard of his tale, from the desperation of leaving home, to the love he had found in secret, the betrayal of those he had once called friends, and finally the doomed errand the king had set him.

The wizard took pity on Feliciano and gave to him three pounds of millet, three pounds of grease, and three pounds of bread, and telling him to be on his way, somewhat unhelpfully, the wizard admitted he did not know where the mysterious witch lived, but that though Feliciano did not know the direction he should trust to his heart to guide him.

the young brunette was puzzled by the gifts but thanked the strange wizard profusely and then went on his way wandering through the forest.

It was not long until he came upon a bakery and the three women who ran it. The women were pulling out their hair in order to sweep the oven when Feliciano came along and in his kindness, offered them the three pounds of millet.

The women thanked him and spared their hair, using the millet to sweep the oven instead.

He walked on for a time and before nightfall chanced upon a pack of dogs. The animals were hungry and licked their lips as they advanced toward Feliciano. Backing quickly away from the growling, snarling, beasts, he suddenly remembered the bread and tossed it to the dogs.

Happily they ate the bread instead of the young man, and allowed Feliciano to pass.

He traveled for another day and night until he came upon a wide rushing river. Before his very eyes it bubbled and turned to the color of blood.

Terrified, Feliciano dared not cross the treacherous waters. Unsure what to do, he stood on the bank and sighed. "Veh~" how he wanted nothing more but to have his strong prince by his side; Ludwig would know what to do; he would not fear the magic waters.

Just then, as Feliciano was feeling keenly alone again, lost in the vast wood, the wizard appeared once more, this time in a puff of green sparkling smoke high in a tree above the waters. It was clear he had not landed where he had intended however, as the wizard fought to regain his balance, the teacup still held by one finger,not a drop was spilt

"You're closer to finding the witch now, but what to do about the river, hmm? You've got to know how to charm her mate; Rivers are bloody vain." The green eyed wizard took another sip of his tea, and perched high over the rushing waters, he instructed Feliciano on what to say.

Nervously, the petite brunette stepped forward to the edge of the river bank.

Feliciano repeated the words of the wizard uncertainly; " Veh~ Fine water so red, I must make haste; Else, of you would I gladly taste."

No sooner had the last word fallen from his tongue than the river calmed and parted allowing him to cross unharmed and dry to the other side.

"Cor Blimy, It worked!" To the young man's horror, the wizard sounded surprised at his success, but before Feliciano could say one word, the strange man had disappeared into thin air, leaving only a puff of smoke behind him.

Now on the other side of the river, and closer to the witch's hidden lair, Feliciano's heart jumped. Could he possibly succeed? If he did succeed, he could return to his strong and handsome prince. He would succeed; he simply had to. With new resolve, Feliciano trudged on through the forest.

It was not long before he came upon the most glorious palace ever created, it shown with golden domes atop its many towers and the walls were as multicolored jewels glittering in the half light of the woods

The witch's palace.

With trepidation, Feliciano approached the door, it was swinging violently open and shut, creaking on hinges that sounded as though they had never seen oil.

The petite young man smeared the grease all along the hinges until the door opened and closed gently and with silent ease.

Feliciano cautiously stepped inside. "Ve..." He shivered in fright as all around him were displayed the witch's trophies,bits and pieces of those who had been foolish enough to try to steal from her in the past.

Suddenly, with caramel eyes wide, Feliciano spotted the treasure chest. It was small but constructed entirely of gold and precious gems. He dared not look inside it, but instead lifted it from the table top it sat upon and ran for the doors.

"Kill him Door! Do as I say!" The witch's voice rang out from the chest under Feliciano's arm and in his fright he nearly dropped it.

Only the determination to return to the king with the prize and by so doing be reunited with his true love kept Feliciano holding onto the chest as it cried out for his demise.

He ran toward the doors, not sure what he would do were they to suddenly close upon him.

But the doors had not forgotten the kindness Feliciano had shown them; they refused to close and instead opened wider to allow him to run through.

Next Feliciano came to the river.

The chest cried out in the evil witch's voice, "River, drown him; drown him I command you!"

But the river remembered the young man's kind words and calmed, parting for him once again.

Feliciano ran across the river bed and soon came to the pack of wild dogs.

"DEVOUR HIM YOU HOUNDS!" The witch's voice was desperate now and demanded his blood be spilt on the forest floor. "TEAR HIM LIMB FROM LIMB FOR YOUR MEAL, YOU DOGS! DO AS I SAY!"

But the hounds had remembered the kindness Feliciano had shown them when they were hungry, and so ignored the witch's demands and let him pass unharmed.

Feliciano ran and ran, he was dreadfully tired but dared not stop, knowing the witch whose voice issued form the treasure chest was on his trail and would gain on him were he to take a moment's breath.

He had never in his life ran so far or so fast.

Finally, winded and clutching his side, Feliciano leaned against the bakery wall, the three women rushed to bring him something to drink. He drank deeply of the cool water and quickly told them of his troubles.

No sooner had he finished his tale than the witch's voice boomed out around the tiny bakery, and those that stood beside it.

"KILL HIM!" The witch screeched. "BAKE HIM IN YOUR OVEN! STAB HIM WITH YOUR KNIVES!" The witch went on, growing desperate. "Kill him, kill him, kill him, and I will make you the wealthiest bakers in the wide world!"

But the women remembered Feliciano's kindness and yelled into the forest that they would do no harm to the sweet young man who had saved their hair.

Feliciano ran on, passed the three fruit trees where he saw the wizard lounging in the apple tree smiling down at him, as through the wood he hurried.

Brambles tore at his clothes, the rocky forest floor hurt his feet, and when finally he stumbled, gasping for breath to clutch at the gates of the city, looking up with hopefully exhaustion in his caramel eyes, Feliciano cried out to the guards, "I have the witch's treasure chest! Let me in, oh veh, per favore, let me in!"

The prince had just been in the stables saddling his horse, for he had given up on finding the witch's lair in maps and defying his grandfather, was about to set out into the forest, intent upon searching every inch for his lost love.

Ludwig stopped, half way into the saddle, as he heard the familiar much missed voice coming hoarsely up from the gates below. Quickly, he swung himself fully into the saddle and spurring his stallion into a gallop, the tall blonde rushed to the gates and to his petite brunette, nearly collapsing in exhaustion on the other side.

The gatesmen where just letting Feliciano in when Ludwig arrived and not even dismounting, he reached down to lift the smaller man into the saddle with him.

As they rode back to the castle, each expressed in whispers the longing they had felt apart and the fear that they would never again be reunited.

Feliciano's heart leapt as he was enveloped in Ludwig's strong arms again and he could think of nothing in the world he wanted more than for this moment to last as long as possible. The slender brunette closed his tired eyes as they rode to the castle, hopeful that their lives might return to the way they had been before.

Ludwig however, was a prince, and as such he was not content to hide in the shadows as a coward. No, ever since Feliciano had been sent away on the seemingly impossible task, the tall blonde had decided that were his love returned to him, he would never hide his affections again.

The broad man stopped outside the castle walls as they drew near and helped his slender love down from the saddle.

"Feliciano." the blonde set his bright blue eyes upon those of beloved caramel as he spoke; his words deadly serious. "My grandfather vill ask you vhat you vant for a reward. Vhen he does, you must tell him you vant the large box of coal from the cellar und all that it contains."

The smaller man nodded up at his love's intense expression and agreed that he would ask for the box of coal and all it contained from the cellar.

The two lovers parted ways before Feliciano approached the wide oak doors of the great hall.

True to Ludwig's prediction, the king was impressed and surprised that Feliciano had survived the errand he had set him, let alone returned victorious with the witch's treasure chest, the container of all kinds of magical powers.

The long haired man stood and asked Feliciano what he would like as his reward, anything at all his heart desired could be his, so great was the magic contained within the chest.

Without hesitation, the young man replied. "Per favore, all I ask is for the large box of coal from the cellar and all that is contained within."

Perplexed at the strange request, the king shrugged his shoulders and agreed. "So it shall be." He called in a commanding voice for the box of coal to be brought from the cellar to the great hall.

Five men brought the box of coal up and set it before the former kitchen boy. The moment the box touched the floor the king pronounced it and all it contained to belong to Feliciano.

The moment the king's words were spoken, the prince stood from the box of coal, and dusting the black coal dust from his clothes, he ran his fingers through blonde hair clearing it also of dust as he brushed it back.

The crowd gasped as they recognized the prince, and what Feliciano had been granted as his reward.

Grateful for the black soot that did at least partially conceal the blush that stole across his face at the realization of what he was about to do, the prince took the now former kitchen boy in his arms and kissed him deeply in front of all the court.

Ludwig lifted his surprised Feliciano off the floor in a tight embrace, wrapping his arms around the petite man's waist. The two men, so deeply in love, only ceased their kiss to catch a breath.

Seeing that his grandson was truly in love, and now impressed doubly by Feliciano's ability to return with the witch's treasure and the cunning way Ludwig had tricked him, the king gave in and was happy to grant them permission to marry.

The wedding was simple and private, just for the prince and his love he had feared would be lost forever.

In time, the maidservants who had conspired against Feliciano were found out and each one dismissed from the castle.

Feliciano was able to send money to his family so that they could once again regain some of the wealth and splendor of his childhood, and indeed they visited eachother often.

It is needless to say that the Prince and his love lived happily ever after. Never again were they parted from eachother; never again were they forced to hide their love in stolen moments behind walls and in the shadows, but instead were able to love eachother openly in the sunshine.

_The end of 'The Boy who was Sold with the Pears.'_

_Again, a great big thank you for the link to the Italian folktales, Haruka Hourou!_

_And thank you to all who review, you wonderful beautiful people!_

_I'm now off to work on chapter 15 of Its Just Business. I will return after that chapter is up with a new fairytale. Until then, my lovelies ~_


	4. Clever Feliciano

_Hello my lovely readers! I'm sorry for the long wait between chapters~_

_My financial situation is making me work more often, I'm starting my Masters thesis and school in general is…sigh. _

_So I do apologize for the wait, I will continue to update between chapters of Its Just Business, though my updates there have been ridiculously long as well… eep!_

_Now, this one isn't as long as the others, but it's a funny one! (Um, the original is not so much, its 'funny-funny-funny-oh look, doom!) XD Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Thank you all for reading and reviewing!_

**Clever Feliciano **_**(Original is Clever Else in the Brother's Grimm Collection.)**_

There once was a man who had two grandsons. When his beloved boys grew up and it was time to marry them off, the grandfather began to look for suitable ladies of good standing.

The youngest of his grandsons, Feliciano was much loved in their village and girls came from far and wide to catch his affections. He smiled and flirted, but in the end his attentions wandered and he told his grandfather none where what he was looking for.

"Veh~ All the sweet and pretty girls are nice, but," he confided to his grandfather with a deep sigh, "I'd rather have a handsome man than a pretty girl Grandpa."

This did not upset the older man at all, so great was his love for his young grandson. Instead he hugged the smaller brunette close and promised to find him a suitor.

As time passed while the grandfather sent for all the eligible men in the realm he could find, Feliciano waited.

At last a suitor arrived from a foreign land and introduced himself as Ludwig Beilschmidt, a well to do merchant near Feliciano's own age, from the kingdom to the north. Right away he took an interest in the slender mahogany haired youth with bright caramel brown eyes and easy smile.

He and Feliciano began courting and soon found they were falling in love.

Finally, the young man had found the suitor he had been waiting for in the tall, blonde foreigner with eyes the color of the summer sky.

One day when his intended's grandfather took him aside to talk of marriage, Ludwig agreed that he would indeed love to marry Feliciano, but there was a condition. He must prove that he was very smart.

"Oh," said the grandfather, "My little Feliciano is bright as the newborn day! He can hear the cough of flies and see the wind as it comes down the road."

Ludwig the foreign merchant looked thoughtfully at the older man. "Vell that is all fine und good," he began, blue eyes drifting to where Feliciano sat talking with his older brother, "But though I love him, if he really isn't smart, I can not marry him."

That night, as the four men sat at the table, having just finished their evening meal, Feliciano's grandfather turned to him. "Go to the wine cellar and fetch some beer for our guest."

The young man did as he was told with a smile and skipped down the steps to the basement lightly. When Feliciano took the pitcher from the wall, he played with the lid by flapping it to pass the time as he walked to the kegs of beer in the back of the cellar.

Feliciano soon selected a beer he thought his future groom would enjoy. As the slight brunette sat on a stool and let the tap pour into the pitcher, he looked around the cellar to keep from becoming bored. His eyes passed over a pickaxe stuck part way into the ceiling overhead.

Caramel eyes widened and suddenly filled with tears.

Feliciano began to cry as the beer overflowed the pitcher and spilled onto the floor.

_What if Ludwig did marry him, and someday they had a son or daughter and sent the child for beer? The pickaxe would surely fall and kill them!_

This thought filled the young man with dread and sorrow and he sat, weeping and bawling with all his heart.

Upstairs, the others had begun to worry. _What could be taking Feliciano so long with the beer, _his Grandfather wondered and asked the older brother. "Romano, go down and see what is keeping your brother."

Romano grumbled beneath his breathe that it was not his job to look after his sibling, but none the less he stood and made his way to the basement.

When his brother arrived and saw Feliciano weeping as the beer spread out around the pitcher in a puddle on the floor, his eyes narrowed and he threw his words at the younger brother. "Feliciano! Whatsa the matter with you? You better stop crying and get upstairs right now!"

But when his younger brother looked up at him with bright watery eyes and tear tracked face, Romano felt sorry for yelling at him.

When Feliciano spoke, he told his older brother of his worries, "If I get Ludwig and we have a child and one day send him down for beer, the pickaxe will surely fall and kill him!"

"Oh," Romano softened, "What a clever fratello I have, thinking of the future! Thatsa so sad!"

He then sat down with Feliciano as the beer continued to spill from the tap onto the floor.

Upstairs, their grandfather was becoming very concerned about his grandson's absence. The two men left at the table made idle chit chat and stared at eachother, and the floor, ceiling, and everywhere else as they both wondered what could have happened to the brothers.

After what felt like an eternity of this to both men, the grandfather finally stood and excused himself to go and look after his grandsons and see what was taking them so long with the beer.

He was surprised to find both Romano and Feliciano crying their eyes out in the back of the wine cellar beside the overflowing keg.

"My precious little grandsons!" He ran through the liquid puddling all around. "Whatsa the matter?"

When Feliciano kept bawling, unable to speak, Romano spoke up for him. "Grandpa, its awful!" He gestured to the pickaxe, "Feliciano was just saying, if he gets Ludwig and they have a child and someday they send them for beer, the pickaxe willa fall on them and kill them!" He wiped at his own eyes, "Isa that not the saddest thing?"

It was.

The older man sat down between his beloved grandsons and pulled them both close to his sides, as he too began to cry. "What a clever Feliciano we have! Thinking of the future!"

Upstairs, Ludwig sat at the table for a very long time. The tall blonde was unsure what to do. He was a guest in the house, so should he stay put and wait? Or could there be trouble, perhaps it was his duty to go and see what had befallen the other three?

In the end, it was his worry for Feliciano, whom he had truly fallen in love with, that spurred Ludwig to action. What if something had happened to all of them?

He stood and hurried from the room, through the kitchen and down the cellar steps.

When he came to the back of the cellar, and stepped into the puddle of beer as the sound of weeping was loud in his ears, Ludwig's heart sped in his chest as he was filled with panic.

When he turned a corner, the tall man breathed a sigh of relief first, to see that all three were alive and in good health. Next, he noticed the tears falling from his beloved's eyes and ran to the slender brunette's side, brushing the salty tears from Feliciano's cheeks.

"Vhat is the matter, meine Liebe?"

The smaller man threw himself into the other's arms. "Oh Ludwig I am so sorry I didn't bring the beer!" He sobbed against his love's neck, "But if we marry and someday have a child and send them down to get a pitcher of beer," He gestured up at the pickaxe above and his tears only increased, "That pickaxe will surely fall and kill them!"

Blue eyes looked deep into those of red rimmed and watery caramel. Surely, Ludwig thought to himself, Feliciano means if we were ever to take in a child…Surely, he told himself, he is smart to worry about the pickaxe because he is merely thinking ahead.

Surely he is really very smart.

The blonde ran a hand through his hair. Yes, surely he was very smart.

Of course, on some level buried within his heart, Ludwig knew he wanted to marry Feliciano, strength of intellect not withstanding.

The larger blonde held the petite brunette close against his chest and a tear fell from his eye as well at the thought that one day were they to have a child, were they to send the son or daughter down for beer, the child could meet with such a tragic end.

The beer had been emptied from the keg onto the floor by the time the four men took the pitcher and returned upstairs to plan the wedding.

…..

Feliciano and Ludwig were married as soon as they could, and Feliciano found himself happily living in the home his new husband had built in the land to the north.

They lived happily for some time, Feliciano doing the cooking, cleaning, and caring for the house as Ludwig worked the field and saw to his business.

One day, as harvest approached, Ludwig turned to Feliciano as the two ate breakfast.

"Feli, I vill be gone to market all day today to make some money, I need you to go out to the field and cut the grain so ve can have bread."

Feliciano nodded, "Of course, Ludwig, I'll do that!"

After his hardworking husband had left, Feliciano made himself a bowl of pasta for lunch and took it to the field with him.

Once there, he looked to the dish of noodles and sauce and thought to himself, _this pasta could go bad while I cut the grain, I should go ahead and eat it now._

And so he did.

After eating the pasta right away Feliciano looked around himself and thought, _I could work right now, or I could take a nap and then get to work._

He decided to nap.

Feliciano, full and happy from his breakfast and then early lunch, stretched out in the wheat and slept all day long.

When Ludwig first arrived back home, he was proud. Feliciano must still be in the field, working hard all day to gather the grains for making bread. However, as the time passed, pride in his husband changed to worry when Feliciano did not return after dark.

Ludwig set out for the fields to find him, his heart racing. His panic only increased as he rushed through the uncut wheat. Whatever had befallen his Feliciano, he would meet it head on

…..

After much searching he finally found his love asleep in the wheat.

Asleep.

Suddenly frustration replaced fear as Ludwig realized Feliciano had been sleeping all day in the field and had gotten nothing done!

He decided to teach him a lesson.

Taking a net with little bells attached that was used for catching birds, Ludwig drapped it over Feliciano as he slept. He then rushed home, locked the door and waited.

…..

Feliciano stirred from his sleep soon after Ludwig had left. When he stood, the little bells jingled with each step he took and he became frightened and confused.

_Is that me making that sound? How can it be? Am I myself? Or am I someone else? I have never made that sound before! Oh God,_ Feliciano thought, _What if I am not myself? Who am I?_

Disoriented, he ran home. However, when he arrived he found the door to be locked. Thinking that if he was not himself he would be at home, he called through the wooden door, "Is Feliciano here?"

Inside Ludwig thought over the question. Yes, Feliciano was here, he was outside that moment, so he answered his worried man, "Ja, he is here." As it was the truth.

_Good,_ Ludwig thought to himself, he _will stand out there for a time and then I will let him in and he will learn to not shirk his work in the future._

However, when Feliciano heard his beloved say he was already at home, he turned and fled fast, unsure who he was. The confused man whose steps jingled from the bells he was still draped with ran up to each house nearby and banging loudly on the doors, called out to any within, "Who am I?"

When Ludwig went to let him in, thinking he had learned the lesson and must be very ready to come inside, he was shocked to see his love had disappeared.

Feeling full of guilt, the tall blonde set off for the second time that night in search of his husband.

The darkness was all around, and Ludwig was beginning to feel truly guilty as he followed the distant sound of bells.

When he at last caught up to Feliciano, te smaller man was standing in a clearing, obviously confused and attempting to free himself from the net. One bell caught in his hair as he tried to pull it overhead.

"Feliciano!" Ludwig ran to his side and pulled the net off, freeing the little curl from its hold. "Feli, I am so sorry!"

The blonde pulled the brunette in close. "I vill never play a trick on you like that again!"

Feliciano was so relieved that he was not mad at all. "A trick? Then I'm me?"

Ludwig's heart was heavy. His love was not as smart as he had thought, to have been fooled so easily…But he was sweet and kind, and that was enough.

Instead of teaching his love to not be so lazy and not to take so long a nap, Ludwig had been the one to learn a lesson. There were simply things Feliciano was not good at, and that was ok. The panic he had felt each time he had been unable to find the slender brunette still held tight in his arms, had taught Ludwig he never wanted to lose his Feliciano, whether he was the brightest or not.

"Ja, mein liebe, my love, you are you, I am me. I should never have tricked you."

The blonde bent to kiss the brunette, brushing soft mahogany hair from his love's face.

Feliciano sighed happily with relief, as he deepened their kiss. Pulling back once the couple had parted lips, he grinned. "You shouldn't have; but I forgive you!"

Ludwig smiled and kept his hand in the other man's hair, finding the unique curl and twirling it on one finger. "Danke. Lets go home."

"Veh~" Feliciano sighed, happy to return home, he leaned into his husband's broad shoulder as they made their way back together.

….

_The End!_

_I hope it was enjoyable, even though it was much shorter than the others! _

_(In the original, Hans just lets Clever Else run off, knowing she'll most likely die out in the woods. I thought about doing that...but no. LOL. Though I most likely will write a dark one eventually.)  
><em>

_Till next time, when I will take on a classic, **either Snow White or Sleeping Beauty – What do you want to read?** Let me know in your review and whichever gets the most votes wins. (:_


	5. The Fairest of Them All

_Hello all my darling readers! Did you expect to see this one ever updated? Oh….I am so, so, sorry – my life is simply ridiculously out of control – but as promised I am back with Snow White! I had intended to make this a double feature with Sleeping Beauty, but I just won't have it updated by Christmas as I want if I hold off and write that too, so Sleeping Beauty is next! And it won't be a year before you see it either, I promise…OTL_

_Another note…I wanted to mix things up from the usual expectations so, as you will see, Ludwig is the damsel in distress in this one ^_~ Now, one thing I didn't think about was how it might sound as I make this blonde, blue eyed german hunk out to the "fairest in the land" Um, aside from the obvious issues with that, which I swear I didn't think of, there is the point that some of you follow me on tumblr and know that I have blonde hair and blue eyes, and I promise, I'm not um, being conceited…my sister is teasing me about this right now as I type in fact. I won't type what she's saying…_

_But trust me, Feli is gorgeous, and you'll see just how stunning he is as the slumbering beauty next time! (of course he's quite the handsome dashing prince in this one!)_

_Well, anyway, without further ado, I hope you enjoy the fairytale! There will be levity, particularly with the 'dwarves' and there will be darkness, this is a Grimm's tale afterall._

_Happy Holidays!_

* * *

><p>A queen of a far away land looked out at the bright summer day. The sun sparkled down onto the earth below the castle walls, the sky was clear of clouds and was the very color of sapphire. "Oh, if only…" She mused, continuing her embroidery with an absent mind. "If only I could have a child as beautiful as this day." She looked up, past the rooflined village below, past the vast forest. "A child with hair as golden as the sun, and eyes as blue as the sky." She sighed and moved her needle.<p>

Suddenly her fingers moved of their own accord. A voice spoke into her mind which was not her own. This same voice had spoken to her some winters past when her first child had been born. As then, the voice would again leave the queen with no memory of the spell she now carried out in silent motion, at the whim of magic she could not see.

"Ouch!" The queen was brought from her trance as her needle had pricked her finger. A single drop of blood fell from her fingertip out the window, far, far to the ground below. Only vaguely did she recall that this very thing had happened before. That day had been quite different, but beautiful in its own way.

Time passed; the normal amount of time for a child to come into the world that is.

The queen indeed gave birth to a child; a prince with hair as golden as the sun, and eyes of sapphire blue.

Life for the royal family was perfect as can be. The elder brother loved his younger sibling and everywhere the two were inseparable. All was as if a dream until one day the queen passed away, through the veil of shadow to the land of spirits, leaving the king heartbroken and her beloved princes without a mother.

In a vain effort to stem his bleeding heart, the King remarried swiftly; his sons would grow into men soon and they needed the feminine wisdom of a mother as they themselves would soon seek wives. He was doing the only thing he could, or so he thought.

He married a most beautiful and charming woman, the most beautiful in all the land it was said, and true it appeared to be.

Though with sorrow, in only a few years the king had fallen ill and died, and to prove how much misery hates loneliness, a war came to the land of a close ally and the oldest brother, now king and only just grown himself, saddled his steed, armed himself and went to war. He left the younger prince in the care of his new stepmother.

There are no guarantees in war. One never knows how long it will last, nor if home will ever be seen again. The war raged on, and the older brother was kept at battle and did not know when he would return.

It was decided the younger son should stay at home, though soon he would reach the age at which he should join his brother. Indeed, it was his strongest wish to ride to battle beside him. However, if he were to go, and if both of them were to fall in battle the kingdom would be left without an heir. It was too great a gamble for to make.

You see, his stepmother had not had a child before the king passed.

It was a great shame to her, and she harbored in her heart a deep hatred for the prince whom she saw daily and with each glance, she saw in him only her failings.

It was his stepmother's mental anguish which was to blame for her ill temper, though the young prince did not know this and only strived each day to please her.

He rose early in the morning, before the sun, before the rooster's first crowing, to practice against straw enemies in the field, to ride his horse over hurdles obscured by the dark of predawn as they would be obscured by smoke or fog on the battlefield. The prince was meticulous in his training, for he never knew when he may be called upon to fight.

When most princes would finish their practice and then leisurely eat breakfast and rest as royalty was want to do, he would not. After a quick meal in the kitchen, he got to work. The queen had dismissed the household servants long ago; she cloaked her wickedness in thrift, but it was her joy to put the young prince to work, knowing she did not have to pay him and could instead spend the money on herself.

Never questioning her, the prince worked tirelessly. He did the laundry, swept and scrubbed the floors, cut the wood for the fire and cleaned the ash from the hearth. In fact he did all but prepare the meals, as she had mercifully retained the cook, or else he would have long ago died of exhaustion.

But to the queen's great fury, the prince did not complain. He appeared to enjoy the work even if it tired him. He took pride in his spotless tile floors, the freshness of the linens, and only grew more stronger with the cutting of wood, which he reasoned, was only a help in his training, were he to be called to war.

Furious, the queen paced her chambers, plotting new and more wicked ways to punish the prince.

Her only comfort was her immense beauty.

She had in her possession, a magic mirror. She stood before it day after day and whispered lovingly,

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? Who's eyes shine like gemstones, and who's hair glows with silken radiance like none other in all the land?"

To each question the mirror would answer, without fail, "You, my queen. "

But as the years passed, and the queen plotted, and devised more chores for the dutiful prince she so despised, the young boy grew into a young man. Strong from his constant work and battle ready from his daily practice, he was everything a prince should be. He ached with restless energy to be kept at home when he desired to join the battle or to at least explore and leave his stepmother whom he could never please no matter how he tried.

However, it was not only strong and brave that the prince had become, but handsome beyond compare. His mother's wish embodied, he was as glorious as a summer day.

One afternoon, the prince's sixteenth birthday in fact, he knelt and polished the floors below, as the queen was in her chambers high above. She sulked and sighed in boredom. What would ease her boredom better than a reminder of her perfection?

"Mirror, mirror on the wall," She began, looking into her reflection with confidence, "Am I not, the fairest of them all?"

But this time, the mirror did not answer as she expected. This time there was no, "True, tis you my queen." No, instead the mirror replied, "Tis true you are beautiful my queen, fair as a star in the sky, but there is one more beautiful than you in this land."

Aghast, she stepped back from the mirror and in a voice trembling with rage she cried, "Who's eyes shine like gemstones, and who's hair glows with silken radiance like none other in all the land? Who if not me, your queen?! Who, I demand to know!"

The mirror's surface clouded and an image appeared, but not the seething reflection of the queen, instead it was the exact image of the prince below, scrubbing the floor as usual.

The queen, enraged, screamed and nearly broke her mirror in her tantrum. Indeed her shrill indiscernible cry reached the ears of the young prince below who looked up toward the ceiling with concern.

For days the queen was inconsolable. How could a prince outshine her beauty? Not even undone by a young lady, but by the handsomness of her own stepson? A child she had forced to work as a servant, but somehow he retained the grace of his title and was more handsome than she was beautiful! She wept, she screamed in fury, and she plotted. Hardly eating, hardly sleeping, rumors began to abound of the mad queen in her tower. But she did not languish in her misery long, no, she plotted and she schemed. She would be rid of the young prince and if his older brother were to return, she would say he had fallen ill. And if the eldest and new king did not return, she would rule as queen alone.

No one could be more beautiful than she, no one. Thus, one wild night as the wind howled through the very window at which the first queen had stood embroidering many years ago, it was decided that the prince would die.

The queen had indeed gone mad; mad with jealousy and spite. She turned to the winds that whipped so cruelly through the air. She threw up her arms and she cried out to the night. She would have his heart ripped from his chest and she would eat it and by so doing, would become once again, the fairest in the land.

There was no one who could stop her. No one who would suspect; princes died all the time of one cause or another, did they not?

And so the plan was hatched. She couldn't dirty her own hands with the young prince's blood, and so she hired a mercenary to do the job.

He would need to come from another land, and so she went forth and for many nights she was away from home.

Curious though he was, the prince had grown into a man of habit and so continued to do his chores as he had each day for so long.

When she finally returned, the queen brought with her a man whom she said was to be a woodsman for the palace; he would hunt and bring in big game so they could at least eat as the royalty they were. With a smile, she showed the foreign man to his rooms and climbed the stairs to her own without another glance at the prince.

The next morning as the prince returned from his daily training, he was greeted at the door to the kitchen by the woodsman.

The man dressed oddly to the prince who looked him up and down in curiosity and doubt. If this was a hunter, why was he wearing such ridiculous attire? Some sort of metal-skirt, which the prince reasoned must be amour of some kind, even though it left the man's legs bare and unprotected…and sandals that left the toe open to attack.

Shrugging off the oddity of the other man, the prince agreed to postpone his regular chores and go into the woods for a walk. The man said he was not from the area and wanted to see what sort of fauna lived in the forest before he started the job.

What was strange, the prince noticed as they walked deeper into the woods, was the man's demeanor. He seemed almost sorry about something and it seemed he talked and sang to cover for his apparent reluctance to be there. Was he afraid of the woods, the prince wondered.

The woodsman went on and on about a great variety of topics and spent much time regaling the young prince about his conquests. The woodsman winked and smiled a brilliant smile as he spoke of once being the emperor of a great and powerful empire.

The prince was dubious. If he had once been an emperor of a great and powerful empire why was he here as a woodsman? Had his empire truly fallen on that hard of times?

At last, though the sun was rising above them as morning dawned, the two men had wandered deeply into the woods, so deep that it was as night. It was in this darkness that the huntsman turned and with an almost sorrowful shadow in his eyes, he pulled a knife on the prince and leapt to attack him.

The prince jumped out of the way and reached for a fallen stick with which to defend himself. His heart racing, he stood in a shaft of sunlight which broke through the thick canopy of leaves.

It was then, as various tactics for defense raced through the young man's mind, that the woodsman dropped his knife, and with tears in his eyes he grabbed the started prince by the face.

"I'm-a so sorry, forgive me? I cannot do it! I cannot kill you, you're-a so cute and so young, you remind me of my own grandsons!"

"Vhat?!" The prince was shocked and tried to pull away from the man's grip, but to no avail as he had now wrapped an arm around him.

"Si, I look at you and I think what would my little grandsons think of me if I killed you, so unexpecting, and so handsome!" He pinched the prince's cheek, eyes twinkling in both tears and gladness that he had decided not to kill the young man. "It has-a been weighing on me, I don't want to kill you, and I know, my little Feliciano, my favorite, preciousnipotino would hate me for taking the life of such a handsome and kind young prince!

The prince struggled to free himself from the other man's grip on his shoulders. "Tell me vhy you vere going to kill me at all!" The prince finally suceeded and turned toward the man with his stick held out as if it were his sword, which he now very much regretted leaving at home. "I demand to know vhat is going on here!"

Now the other man's smile fell fully, he looked at the prince with true sorrow. Deep regret.

"Your stepmother, she is a wicked woman! She offered me land and gold if I only gave her your heart." As the prince's mouth dropped open, the woodsman continued. "I thought that would be a perfect gift for my amati nipotini to expand their kingdoms now that they will inherit my land..."

Shaken, the prince felt hated tears welling in his eyes. His stepmother, all he had wanted was to make her happy... "She vanted... mein hertz?" His question was nearly silent as he stared at the huntsman who was no huntsman at all. "My heart...vhy?"

At the answer, the stick dropped from his hands and his tears fell to streak across his fair cheeks.

Stomach turning, the prince could not believe his stepmother wanted to eat his heart, that she was driven mad by her jealousy of him.

For a time, the two men stood silent. The prince wondering if the other man was reconsidering.

At last the once-emperor spoke.

"What is your name, prince?"

Gulping down the lump in his throat that had lodged there since the vision of his stepmother cutting into his heart like a steak, the prince answered. "Ludwig."

"Well Ludwig," The man had put an arm around him again and was smiling once more. "If I were tell you my name, you would-a no doubt know I am a genius and not just a chiseled statue of a man!"

"Vhat?" one eyebrow raised as Ludwig tried to pull away, but the prince's derision went unnoted.

"I have a great plan of course! I will-a kill a wild boar here in the forest and-a take its heart to the queen! She'll never know the difference." He patted the prince on the shoulder and pushed him into the woods . "Now, run Ludwig, into the forest! You cannot go back home ever again!"

At first stumbling a bit, it did not take long for the prince to find his footing, and taking up the stick he had dropped, he spared only one glance back to the mysterious man before he turned and ran into the darkness at the depth of the forest's heart.

As he ran, he could not belive it was day at all. The entire experiece felt like a nightmare. Prince Ludwig ran and ran, tears coming to his eyes as he realized the woman he had tried to please would never love him, indeed wanted him dead, that he had come into the woods so untterly unprepared, leaving his horse, his sword, any food, all behind. He had no idea how, but he knew he must find somewhere to stay by the time the day was over.

And so he made his way through the thick forest as the sun moved far above the dark canopy and the moon rose to pass it in the now evening sky. With only the stick for armament, and only his cloak for comfort, the prince grew tired and hungry, but above all, tired.

When all seemed surely lost and he was near to collapsing from the journey, totally unaware of the time of day, a ray of moonlight shot through the trees like a torch and lit a clearing before him. In the clearing, like a blessing, was a little cottage.

Perhaps he had found some kind people with whom he could pass the night!

Finally reaching the door of the cottage, the prince knocked upon it, but there was no answer. He pushed on the door and to his surprise it swung open.

In he went, cautiously he lit a lantern which hung beside the door.

A curious sight was spread before him; a long table with seven little chairs, and beyond that a bedroom with seven beds all in a row! But what really struck the prince was the stench of the cottage. It was a mess. There was complete chaos. Dirty laundry was heaped in piles all around; dirty dishes spilled over the sink to the counter and even the floor of the kitchen! Everywhere there was filth, clutter, and grime.

His sleepiness forgotten, Ludwig could not rest until everything was back in order. Right away he set to work cleaning up the cottage, whistling as he did so, for it put the nightmarish ordeal of nearly losing his heart from his mind.

At last after much hard work, when the weak pink light of dawn was just beginning to fall down on the clearing, Ludwig was done. He finally allowed himself to feel tired, and tired he was indeed. Stumbling into the bedroom, he collapsed across all seven beds, as they were quite small, and with sleeves still rolled up to his elbows, he fell fast asleep.

No sooner had he drifted into sleep than the masters of the home returned. Seven men in all, dwarves who toiled in the mountains for gems and gold.

Each carrying his own lantern, as they were not fond of sharing, the home was well light as soon as they all had passed the threshold. As light shown down upon the now spotless cottage; the seven little men knew right away they were not alone.

Whats more, there were strange little things out of place.

Said one little man, "Who's been sitting in my chair? It's cursed afterall!"

The second one smiled a small smile, "I have no trouble sitting in it Arthur, but…who has moved my scarf – I knew I shouldn't have left it!"

A third one spoke up near a panic, "Who cares about your scarf?! My sheet music has been moved! It's stacked atop my piano! Though," he looked toward a fourth,"I daresay it is much nicer in here."

The fourth one paid him no mind however but was running all over the cottage. "Where's my comic books? I had them purposefully in piles, now where are they?!"

The fifth one spoke up now trying to calm the fourth, "Alfred relax, they're right here." He pointed to a neat stack on a now clean bookshelf, look, there's my maple syrup! I've been looking for it!"

The sixth one however was quite irate, "Who moved all my weapons! We need those for protection! We have to be vigilant afterall, there are wicked creatures in these woods, and I for one," he ran on, "would like to know who the hell is in our house moving our things about!"

The seventh one tried to calm the sixth, "Vash, settle down, I'm sure we'll find them – we've found everything else – look there's Ivan's scarf – that's everything, look for your weapons down in the cellar – didn't we used to put them there? The real question is who has been drinking my wine?" the seventh little man held up a bottle from the center of the long table. Clearly someone had had a glass.

Then the first one, Arthur, noticed the door open to the bedroom beyond. "Look boys, someone is asleep in there – sleeping on our beds!"

The others came running up and shouted,

"Someone is in there!"

"Let's wake him!"

"Is…is it a ghost?!"

"Who is it?"

"Be careful, it could be dangerous!"

"What if it's a ghost?"

"Ghosts don't snore Alfred! But...it is awfully big, what if it's a moose – those are dangerous!"

The first dwarf pushed the others out of the way as he stomped toward the bedroom. "It's not a moose or a ghost you bloody idiots, it's a human!"

Arthur drew close to where the sleeping shape lay. "Oi, get up you trespasser, what's the meaning of-" but his words died on his tongue as he approached the sleeping prince who was just beginning to stir from his deep slumber.

"Oh good heaven! Oh good heaven!" each of the seven cried. "This child is so beautiful, so handsome, like a bright summer day, he is!"

They were so happy, that they did not wake him up, but let him continue to sleep there across their beds, instead the dwarves inspected their home, each one finding more and more of their things and growing happier and happier throughout the night.

Early in the morning Prince Ludwig awoke, and when he saw the seven dwarfs he was surprised.

They were friendly however, and asked, "What is your name?"

The prince answered truthfully, "My name is Ludwig Bielschmidt.'

"How did you find your way to our house?" the dwarfs asked further, gathering around the prince.

He told them that he was a prince and his stepmother had tried to kill him, that the huntsman who was really not a huntsman had spared his life, and that he had run the entire day, finally coming to their house.

The dwarfs were moved by his story. "If you will keep house for us, and cook, make beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay with us, and you shall have everything that you want."

"Yes of course I will," Prince Ludwig said as he began to brush his sleep-mussed hair back from his face, "until my brother comes home from war, I have nowhere to go and am so grateful for the hospitality!"

So he kept house for them. Every morning they went into the mountains looking for jewels and gold, and in the evening when they came back home their meal was ready. During the day the prince was alone.

The good dwarfs warned him, Vash spoke sternly, "Be careful about your stepmother. She will soon know that you are here. Do not let anyone in."

Now the queen, believing that she had eaten Ludwig's lungs and liver, could only think that she was again the first and the most beautiful of all in the land. For some time she had no need to ask the mirror, but finally, wanting simply to hear it again, she stepped before her mirror and said:

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"

It answered: "You, my queen, are fair; it is true, but the young prince Ludwig, beyond the mountains with the seven dwarfs, is still a thousand times fairer than you."

This startled the queen, for she knew that the mirror did not lie, and she realized that the mercenary had deceived her, and that Ludwig was still alive. Then she thought, and thought again, how she could kill her stepson, for as long as long as she was not the most beautiful in the entire land her envy would give her no rest.

At last she thought of something.

The wicked queen disguised herself as an old peddler woman, so that no one would recognize her. In this disguise, she went to the house of the seven dwarfs. Knocking on the door she called out, "Wares for sale, for sale!"

Ludwig peered out the window and said, "Guten Tag, dear woman, what do you have for sale?"

"Good wares, beautiful wares," she answered. "Laces in all colors." And she took out one that was braided from bright blue silk. "A growing young man such as yourself surely needs new vest laces, what a strapping young man you are too!" Her eyes twinked with malice as she held up the lace, "Would you like this one? It matches your eyes, blue as the summer sky."

"I can let that honest woman in," prince Ludwig thought, and he unbolted the door and bought the pretty blue lace.

"Why, young man," said the old woman, "how handsome you look! Come, let me lace you up properly."

The unsuspecting prince stood before her and let her do up the new lace, but in the wicked queen's hands the lace was bewitched and pulled tight so quickly and so hard that Ludwig could not breathe.

"You used to be the most beautiful one," said the old woman, and hurried away.

Falling to his knees on the floor, Ludwig twisted and turned, trying with all his might to undo the lace, but magic as it was, it held fast and only tightened as he tried to free himself. Soon, no matter the prince's strength, lack of air weakened his efforts and he succumbed to the darkness encroaching from the corners of his sight.

The young prince lay, for all the world dead, on the floor of the cottage. One hand still at his chest where he had tried in vain to pull the lace from his vest.

Not long afterward, in the evening, the seven dwarfs came home. How terrified they were when they saw their dear Ludwig lying on the ground, not moving at all, as though he were dead. They lifted him up, and, seeing that he was too tightly laced, and that the laces were clearly bewitched as none could untie them, Vash brought a knife from his boot and cut the lace in two.

Like a miracle, Ludwig began to breathe a little, and little by little he came back to life.

When the dwarfs heard what had happened they nodded knowingly. Ivan spoke up, "You see the old peddler woman was no one else but the wicked queen now, da? Do not let anyone else in when we are not with you."

When the wicked woman returned home she went to her mirror and asked:

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"

The mirror answered once again: "You, my queen, are fair; it is true, but prince Ludwig, beyond the mountains with the seven dwarfs, is still a thousand times fairer than you."

When she heard that, all her blood ran cold because she knew her handsome stepson had come back to life.

"This time," she said, "I shall think of something that will destroy him truly."

Then with her knowledge of the most deadly of plants, she made a poisoned comb. Then she disguised herself, taking the form of a different old woman. Thus she went across the seven mountains to the seven dwarfs, knocked on the door, and called out, "Good wares for sale, for sale!"

Ludwig looked out and said, "Go on your vay. You are not allowed in."

"You surely may take a look," said the old woman, pulling out the poisoned comb and holding it up. The prince did like his hair combed and if he was truthful with himself, his old comb was a bit worn, missing more than a few teeth. When he say the one the old woman held, he liked it so much that he let himself be deceived, and he opened the door, thinking this woman is not the same as the evil queen, my stepmother.

After they had agreed on the purchase, the old woman said, "Now let me comb your hair properly, my handsome young man."

She had barely stuck the comb into prince Ludwig's golden hair when the poison took effect, and the young man fell down unconscious.

"You specimen of beauty," said the wicked woman, "now you are finished." And she walked away.

Fortunately it was almost evening, and the seven dwarfs came home. When they saw Ludwig lying on the ground as if he were dead, they immediately suspected his stepmother. They examined him and found the poisoned comb. They had scarcely pulled it from his hair when Ludwig came to himself again and told them what had happened. Once again they warned him to be on guard and not to open the door for anyone.

Back at home the queen stepped before her mirror and said:

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"

The mirror answered: "You, my queen, are fair; it is true, but prince Ludwig, beyond the mountains with the seven dwarfs, is still a thousand times fairer than you."

When the queen heard the mirror saying this, she shook and trembled with anger, "That Ludwig shall die," she shouted, "even if it costs me my life!"

Then she went into her most secret room and she made a poisoned apple, far more poisoned than the comb. From the outside it was beautiful, white with red cheeks, and anyone who saw it would want it. But anyone who might eat a little piece of it would die instantly. Then, coloring her face, she disguised herself as a peasant woman, this time young, and thus went across the seven mountains to the cottage of the seven dwarfs.

She knocked on the door.

Ludwig had been inside looking over a large map of his kingdom. Since his stepmother was not content to let him live away from her, he had decided to retake his home by force. His brother's war was lasting long and in truth, though Ludwig hoped for his brother's safety, he had no way of hearing from Gilbert and had to act accordingly, taking the castle for his family and dismissing his wicked stepmother.

Hearing the knock at the door, Ludwig stuck his head out the window and said, "I am not to let anyone in. You may as vell go avay."

"That is all right with me," answered the peasant woman. "I'll easily get rid of my apples. Here, I'll give you one of them for free."

"Nein," Ludwig said seriously, recalling his two brushed with death that very week. "I cannot accept anything."

"Are you afraid of poison?" asked the peasant. "Look, I'll cut the apple in two. You eat the red half, and I shall eat the white half."

Now the apple had been so artfully made that only the red half was poisoned. Ludwig did love apples and longed for the beautiful apple, and when he saw that the peasant woman was eating part of it he could no longer resist, and he stuck his hand out and took the poisoned half.

He barely had a bite in his mouth when he fell to the ground, really and truly dead.

The queen looked at her stepson with a gruesome stare, laughed loudly, and said, "Handsome as a summer's day and as dead as winter! This time the dwarfs cannot awaken you."

Back at home she asked her mirror: "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"

It finally answered: "You, my queen, are fairest of all."

Then her envious heart was at rest, as well as an envious heart can be at rest.

When the dwarfs came home that evening they found their dear prince lying on the ground. He was not breathing at all, truly dead. They lifted him up and looked for something poisonous.

They undid his laces. They combed his golden hair. They washed him with water and wine.

But nothing helped. The dear young prince was dead, and he remained dead. They laid him on a bier, and all seven sat next to him and mourned for him and cried for three days. They were going to bury him, but he still looked as fresh as a living person, and still had his beautiful rosy cheeks.

They said, "We cannot bury him in the black earth," and they had a transparent glass coffin made, so he could be seen from all sides. They laid him inside, and with golden letters wrote on it his name, and that he was a prince. Then they put the coffin outside on a mountain, and one of them always stayed with it and watched over him.

The animals too came and mourned for prince Ludwig, first an owl, then a raven, and finally a dove.

The handsome prince Ludwig lay there in the coffin a long, long time, and he did not decay, but looked as though he were asleep, for he was still as beautiful as a summer's day.

Now it came to pass that a prince entered these woods and happened onto the dwarfs' house, where he sought shelter for the night. He saw the coffin on the mountain with handsome prince Ludwig in it, and he read what was written on it with golden letters.

Then he said to the dwarfs, "I have searched for this man! My grandfather told me of a handsome prince in a dark forest, and that he may yet still live!" Tears welled in the young man's caramel brown eyes, his lip trembled, "And now I see I've come too late! Oh, but he is so handsome even in death! Let me have the coffin. I will give you anything you want for it."

But the dwarfs answered, "We will not sell it for all the gold in the world."

Then he said, "Then give it to me, vi prego, vi prego, I beg of you, for I cannot live without being able to see the most handsome prince Ludwig, as beautiful as a summer's day! I will honor him and respect him as my most cherished one."

As he thus spoke, the good dwarves felt pity for him and gave him the coffin. The foreign prince had his servants carry it away on their shoulders. But then it happened that one of them stumbled on some brush, and this dislodged from Ludwig's throat the piece of poisoned apple that he had bitten off. Not long afterward he opened his eyes, lifted the lid from his coffin, sat up, and was alive again.

"Mein Gott! Vo bin ich?!" he cried out.

The prince said joyfully, "Oh Veh! You're alive and you are with me, Feliciano!" He told him what had happened, and then said, "I love you more than anything else in the world. I knew I loved you right away, before I even heard your voice, and now I know I love you even more! Come with me to my castle, tell me more about yourself and live with me for always?

Ludwig was surprised, but found as he looked into the wide, limpid caramel eyes of the other prince that he indeed loved him as well, it was as if all of destiny had brought them together in that moment so they could meet.

"Ja, I vill go vith you Feliciano, und I vill spend my life with you. It is as if I have known you all along."

He went indeed, to a beautiful palace by the sea, in a kingdom to the south. Their wedding was planned with great splendor and majesty. The huntsman who was not a huntsman was so very glad to see the young prince alive and to see his grandson so happy.

Three messengers were sent forth with haste, and three invitations were received. One to the seven little men who had taken such care of prince Ludwig when he had needed a home and friends, one to his brother who as it happened, was on his way home from the war, victorious, and one final invitation to Ludwig's wicked stepmother.

Her invitation differed from the others, as it did not say in whose honor the wedding feast was being held.

After putting on her most beautiful clothes, she stepped before her mirror and said:

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is fairest of all?"

The mirror answered: "You, my queen, are fair; it is true, but the young king is a thousand times fairer than you."

The wicked woman uttered a curse, and she became so frightened, so frightened, that she did not know what to do. At first she did not want to go to the wedding, but she found no peace. She had to go and see the young king whose handsomeness could outshine her beauty. When she arrived she recognized Ludwig, now seated on a dais with his smiling husband, and terrorized, she could only stand there without moving.

"How dare you treat my little bruder in such a manner!" The king of her own land, and Ludwig's eldest brother came forth from where he had been standing, chatting with the brother of Feliciano. Gilbert marched forward, his crimson eyes flashing with rage. He brought with him a pair of iron shoes.

The brother of Feliciano, another king in his own right from further south, joined the pale king of the land of mountains in the north and brought with him a cauldron of burning coals.

"Danke Romano." One young king said to the other. "Ve vill now give our brothers a wedding gift und true justice."

The shoes were put into the cauldron and as the wicked woman stared, frozen to the spot, the shoes were pulled from the cauldron with tongs

She was forced to step into the red-hot shoes and dance and dance until at last, she fell down dead and was then removed and buried without ceremony.

Feliciano leaned across his throne, brushed a finger beneath Ludwig's crown, through his beloved's hair, and leaned in close. "Ti amerò in eterno, Ludwig".

Ludwig echoed his husband's motions, twisting a finger around the unique and alluring curl as he too leaned close. Lips brushing one another, he whispered, "Ich werde für immer dich liebe, mein Feliciano"

And as the two were well educated in the languages and customs of the world, they understood eachother perfectly. The kiss they now shared was one of many, many more, for the two princes now kings, lived happily ever after.

* * *

><p><em>Taking primarily from Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's 'Sneewittchen' with bits and pieces thrown in~<em>

_Ti amero in eterno, Ludwig = I'll love you eternally, Ludwig_

_Ich werde für immer dich liebe, mein Feliciano = I'll love you forever, my Feliciano_

_Happiest of Holidays my lovelies! (A special Grazie Mille to SoledaDeMisPesares for the help with Italian!)  
><em>


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